


Switch

by J2_Harry_Potter_Fans



Series: The switch universe [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, F/M, Fantasy, M/M, OOC
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-05
Updated: 2020-07-02
Packaged: 2020-11-01 22:41:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 41
Words: 33,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20531432
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/J2_Harry_Potter_Fans/pseuds/J2_Harry_Potter_Fans
Summary: A spell to stop Voldemort went wrong and now all children go to the Malfoys. Can Fred and George break the curse, raise the boy who lived, destroy the Horcruxes and start a revolution?





	1. Spell Gone Wrong

**Author's Note:**

> This is our First try at Fanfiction so please take that into consideration when reading or reviewing.( Thanks:) )  
This work has multiple characters and will be part of a series.

1969

Dumbledore stared into the horizon. All he could see was trees. He noticed the way the flames of the campfire he was standing around made shadows dance over the tree trunks like they were joining in the chanting, too. What were they chanting about, again? The centaurs and Filch were there, standing in a circle and chanting the words:  


"Mortus Switchlas Voldebabies." 

Suddenly Dumbledore remembered what they were trying to do. Destroy Voldemort once and for all and stop the war, as he did with Grindelwald. Dumbledore liked remembering how he destroyed Grindelwald. Firenze the Centaur noticed immediately that something was up and that the spell hadn't gone as planned. His brow was furrowed and he was staring into the flames of the campfire. Suddenly everything went wrong. Filch suddenly felt hollow, like something was... missing. The centaurs started to panic. Meanwhile, the Malfoys discovered a newborn on their doorstep. One of many to come.

1st April 1978

The Malfoys opened the door to discover two new children. The names written on the basket identified them as Fred and George Weasley. This had been happening for years, children showing up on the Malfoy doorstep. Specifically wizarding children. All wizarding children. Narcissa Malfoy sighed as she picked up the boys "Weasleys... of course." The Weasleys were the bane of her existence. Why did they have to have so many children? She shoved the newborns into the hands of Bill and Charlie Weasley. 

"You take care of this," she snapped.

1st March 1980

Lucius Malfoy knew that he and Narcissa really really needed an heir to their fortune. After all, what good would it do to give it to one of these random children? This fortune belonged to the Malfoy family, and it was going to stay that way. He glanced over at his wife. She was due to have their son any day now, and then, much to Lucius's pleasure, they would have an heir. Finally. Lucius glared at Bill as he entered the room.  
"There's another baby, here," he said, trembling. He almost always got yelled at when a new baby arrived.  
Lucius made a growling sound.  
"It's a Weasley," said Bill. "His name is Ronald."  
Lucius Malfoy really loathed the Weasleys. Was it necessary to have six children?  
"Bill Weasley!" Lucius shouted, slamming his fist down on the table. The boy jumped "How dare you make another baby come here! That's sixteen babies this week, and it's only Thursday!"  
"I'm sorry," Bill whispered. If he knew how to stop the children appearing, he definitely would do it. Anything to avoid the shouting. Maybe he would make Charlie go next time. "I'll just take him to the nursery, then."  
"Just keep him out of my sight," Lucius snapped, and turned away, leaving Bill to quietly exit the room.

A few days later, Narcissa gave birth to a son. Lucius decided to name him Draco. Draco was only a few minutes old, and he was lying asleep in his mother's arms, when, suddenly, he just... vanished. Lucius looked at Narcissa, confused.  
"Who did this?" he said.  
Narcissa only shook her head in disbelief. What in the world had happened to their baby? It wasn't until he heard the news about the 'Weasley's child' that realised what had happened.  
Shaking with rage, Lucius stormed out through the hallway and into the nursery to a very confused-looking Bill and Charlie. If the Weasleys were going to take their child and raise him, they would take the Weasleys' child and raise him Malfoy. "Where is the new Weasley child?" he demanded. He looked around at all the small children just everywhere. He had no idea how to tell which one was Ronald.  
"This one," Charlie held up one with a tuft of red hair. Lucius should have known he would have red hair. He snatched the baby roughly off of Charlie and carried it through to Narcissa.  
"As far as we are concerned," he said. "This baby is Ronald Malfoy, and he is the heir to our inheritance."

30th July 1980  
Lucius stood in front of his master in shock. "Excuse me, my Lord?" he said in disbelief.  
"You heard me. There has been a Prophecy that a child born as the seventh month dies shall defeat me. I am removing that possibility. Give me all the children born on the end of July," Voldemort replied.  
"As you wish my Lord."  
The children were brought before the Dark Lord. He picked up a young boy, examining him as if trying to discern if this newborn had 'Dark Lord Defeating' capabilities when he tripped over the carpet. And down a flight of stairs. He died on impact as his head smashed against the floor. The newborn remained unharmed save a scar on his forehead.  
The Malfoys were busy attending to the body that was quickly and unnaturally disintegrating on their floor. They didn't notice two redheads scooping up the baby.  


The next day, Bill and Charlie were exhausted. They had only just managed to get Neville to go to sleep, and all the countless other babies were screaming and crying.  
"I suppose I should go and check outside to see if there are any more babies," Bill said wearily.  
Charlie only nodded.  
Bill made his way down the stairs and opened the front door. He wasn't surprised to see another baby. The label on its basket read 'Harry Potter'. With a heavy sigh, Bill picked up the basket and carried it back upstairs.  
"This is baby Harry Potter," Bill informed Charlie.  
Charlie took the basket. "He's a half-blood," he said, after looking at the label on his basket.

11th August 1981

Bill and Charlie had been looking after the babies and collecting the new ones who arrived every day for the past year, the same as always. In fact, now there were so many children to look after, that they had nicknamed themselves the 'Baby-Keepers'.  
"Charlie, you have to check for new babies," Bill said.  
"I did it yesterday," Charlie retorted. "It's your turn today."  
"Fine," Bill huffed and trudged downstairs. He swung the door open, and his stomach turned to lead as soon as the saw what was there. There was a young girl there, and her basket label identified her as Ginny Weasley. Bill wanted to cry. Another Weasley. He and Charlie were done for. He looked over his shoulder before picking up the basket and creeping upstairs again to find Charlie.  
"Charlie, we have a problem..." he said nervously. "It's another Weasley."  
Charlie stood up, with one baby in each of his arms. He shot Bill a worried look.  
"Maybe we could hide her," Bill suggested.  
"No," said Charlie. "If we do, and Lucius finds out, we'll be in even more trouble."  
With a half-hearted nod, Bill turned and left to find Lucius.

31st October 1981

Fred and George were giggling as they snuck looks at the chair. Their very first prank, a squeaky chicken on a chair. Their excitement quickly turned to horror as Lucius Malfoy sat down on the chair. The hilarity was thwarted by the fear as Lucius demanded to know who had pulled the prank. Resignedly Fred admitted that he and George had performed the prank. They couldn't just let someone else take the blame. This had been a horrible idea, George bemoaned as Lucius spoke that dreaded word. "Crucio." The pain was immediate and agonising like he was being torn apart from the inside out, every nerve was on fire and it felt like it went on for an eternity. Then it ended and George's consciousness began to fade. Before he slipped away he saw his brothers terrified face as he prepared to get the same treatment.


	2. The Start of the End (Of the Malfoys)

15th February 1984

Fred and George were walking into the massive expanse of the Malfoy library. Again. They knew they would be safe here because nobody else came, often. They had begun reading and found a passion for it. They had taught themselves to read by listening to the older children's lessons with books by their sides. Fred was currently halfway through 'Magical Drafts and Potions' by Arsenius Jigger, which he had started yesterday, and George was almost done reading 'The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1)' by Miranda Goshawk. He was very keen to learn how to cast magic, but he was lacking a wand. He had tried to do it with his hands, but it hadn't quite worked out the way he had wanted it to. Let's just say there was an incident with a vase in the pool. George was just reading about the levitating spell when Fred cried,  
"Ssh! Listen!"  
George listened and they could clearly hear footsteps echoing on the marble floor towards the library.  
"Quick! Hide!" he whispered.  
They ducked under the nearest table which was covered with a tablecloth. Their breath caught in their throats as they heard the door swing open and Lucius came in.  
"Where is it?" he said. "Where is it?"  
The boys jumped and the table shook violently as Lucius slammed something heavy onto the top. Paper rustled as he flipped through page after page hurriedly.  
"Here it is!"

He muttered some kind of spell under his breath and both boys breathed a sigh of relief as they heard his footsteps fade. They waited for a few seconds, before getting out from under the table to look at the heavy tome Lucius left behind. The spell didn't make much sense to them, so they turned the page, and immediately recognised the spell they saw. It had been one used on them many times. Cruciatus. As they read on, they learned that it was one of the 'Unforgivable Curses' and highly illegal. This was bad. They had to do something about this. The question was: what?  
"George," Fred breathed. "I know what we're going to do."  
"What?"  
"We are going to protect the younger ones, rise up and destroy the Malfoys from the inside out!"  
"And how are we going to do that?" George questioned.  
"No clue," Fred said. "But we're going to do it anyway."  
"That's stupid!"  
"Be quiet, George! I'm older, and you have to listen to me!"  
"How do you know that?"  
"Because I'm older," Fred declared. "So I know more than you."  
George didn't say anything, but he thought it made sense.

1984

It started off small. They began to help the others out, taking the blame for missteps, so they were the ones taking the punishment. Like when Hannah Abbott stole an apple and Fred 'admitted' to being the thief. He got sent down to the dungeons for a day. Or when Lee Jordan was asked to wash the dishes but forgot because he had other chores to do as well. George told Lucius that he told Lee he would do the dishes and then he forgot, so Lucius thought it would be appropriate for George to skip dinner that day. Or when Michael Corner brought a stray cat into the children's rooms and it jumped on the bed and tore the bedsheets. When Narcissa found out about this, she was furious. To spare poor Michael with his love for animals from Narcissa's wrath, Fred and George claimed responsibility. They each got hit in the back with a 'Diffindo', cutting through their clothes and staining them with blood. That one took a while to heal. Incidents went on like this throughout the year and onwards.

The summer of that year, Bill decided to teach his younger brothers some basic magic on his time off from Baby-Keeping. It was difficult because they only had one wand between them, and it was not a good match for them, but they did manage to master 'Wingardium Leviosa', 'Alohomora' and 'Vera Verto'. They tried to also bring Neville ('The Boy Who Lived', as Bill and Charlie had started calling him) into the teaching, but it didn't go too well. He was only three, after all.

16th November 1984

During one of their 'Acts of Martyrdom', as Bill and Charlie liked to call it, Harry had broken a vase. Fred and George, as usual, took the blame and got sent to the dungeons. It was cold and damp and dark. There were rats, too. They hated rats. George always got bitten. For some reason, it was always George. Fred thought this was because he was the superior and older brother. Suddenly, one of the rats came up to them and turned into a person. Fred jumped and hit his back off the wall. The stranger stared at them before taking out a small bag. The man threw the bag over Fred, who completely disappeared.  
'An Undetectable Extension Charm,' George thought. 'I've read about those.'  
George spent too much time thinking about the bag, that it got thrown over him too.

The bag was dark, but it wasn't as bad as the dungeon. They got shaken around for a few minutes and then thrown out onto the floor. Fred landed on top of George. Fred scrambled off of George, and they looked up to see not one, but four males towering over them. Suddenly, the one with the scarred face spoke:  
"Peter, did you kidnap two small children?" he asked.  
"It's not stealing," said the man who had kidnapped them - Peter. "Because I'm going to give them back."  
"It's still kidnapping," said the one with long, black hair.  
"Excuse me, sir," said George. "But could you please tell us what's going on?"  
Then the man with glasses spoke, "Oh, yeah, sorry about Peter. I'm James. James Potter. This is Sirius Black," he pointed to the one with long black hair. "Remus Lupin," he pointed to the one with the scarred face. "And Peter Pettigrew," he motioned to the man who had kidnapped them. "We are the Marauders."  
"Hi," said Fred. "I am Fred Weasley and this is George."  
Remus turned to Peter, "May I question as to why you kidnapped two small children?"  
"I didn't kidnap them," Peter said. "I borrowed them. It's not stealing if I give them back. Also, they were locked in a dungeon, so I saved them."  
"You were locked in a dungeon?" Sirius said to the boys.  
"Yes," said Fred. "We helped Harry Potter. Wait a second..."  
"What?" said James.  
"You are James Potter, right?" said Fred.  
James nodded, confused.  
"I think you have a son."  
"I don't have a son! I would know!"  
"Well, you see," Fred continued. "There's this boy who lives with us. And he's kind of called Harry Potter. And he looks like you. A lot."  
George reached into his pocket and pulled out a wallet full of images. "I've started keeping track of everybody," he explained. "I don't trust the Malfoys enough not to 'disappear' a child."

He flipped through the pictures for a moment, before producing what could have been James' twin, but with green eyes.  
"I have a son!" James cried. "I have to see him!"  
"How are we supposed to do that?" Fred asked.  
"I'll go and rescue him," James said.  
The twins didn't think that would go well but decided not to say anything about it because this adult had not hit them yet, and they didn't want to give him a reason to.  
"I'm sorry boys," said Remus. "But we're going to have to send you back before people notice you're gone."  
"No, please don't send us back there," Fred said.  
"We're still helping the others, though, Fred," George said. "We can't give up now."  
"Oh yeah," said Fred. "You're right. For once."  
The Marauders watched in amazement as the boys willingly climbed back into the bag. From inside the bag, they could hear Peter's muffled voice saying:  
"See, not kidnapping!"

The boys were shaken around for a while before being thrown back onto the dungeon floor. George did not appreciate this seemingly recurring theme of him landing on the bottom. His head hurt as it smashed into the cold, damp concrete. Fred looked around to thank Peter, but both he and the bag were gone.  
"George, I think we met nice adults," he said.  
George didn't reply, staring off at a rat which was scuttling away through a hole in the wall.


	3. Christmas with the Marauders and After

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We just figured out how to use italics - can you tell?

25th December 1984

Since Fred and George had been such nuisances lately, the Malfoys had decided to preemptively put Fred and George in the dungeons to keep them out of trouble. They were hanging out and feeling quite miserable when Peter appeared.  
"What are you doing here?" Fred asked.  
"I was just spying," Peter said. "For James. He wants more information on his son, but you'll do."  
With that, he put the bag over their heads. Again. George was upset but not surprised when he found himself on the floor with Fred's elbow digging painfully into his side.  
"Again?" Remus said. "Really, Peter?"  
"I'm going to give them back," Peter insisted.  
"You might want to not tip the bag upside down in future," Remus said. "You might want to let them just climb out themselves."  
"Where's the fun in that?" said Peter.  
"How do you know these children, James?" asked a redheaded woman with green eyes that reminded George of Harry. George did not recognise this lady. Maybe she was the fifth Marauder?  
"They're helping me get information on my son," James said.  
"What son?" said Lily. "_We_ don't have a son! What have you been doing, James? Have you been cheating on me? Was it with Narcissa? I bet it was with Narcissa! She's the most fertile woman on the planet!"  
"No!" James said, horrified. "Of course not. Harry is _our_ son - we just forgot."  
"What are you talking about?" Lily said.  
"George, show her the photo!" James demanded.  
George did so.  
"That's not our child," she said. "That's you as a kid!"  
"No, look at the eyes," James said. "Those are your eyes, Lily."  
"We don't have a child!" Lily insisted.  
"Yes, we do!" said James.  
"If you don't listen to reason," said Lily. "I'm leaving."  
"Wait a second!" said James. "It doesn't make sense that nobody else has a child."  
"Look at the Weasleys," said Lily. "We're just unlucky."  
And she stormed out.

"Anyway," said James, turning to Fred and George. "Merry Christmas."  
James rummaged around for a while before producing a cloak.  
"I was thinking," he said. "You could use this to help me get more information on my child. Peter is not doing a great job."  
"Hey!" yelled Peter.  
"It's true!" said James.  
"Thank you," said George.  
Everybody jumped as the door swung open and Sirius flew in on a broomstick. "Hi everyone," he shouted. "It's me! The life of the party! Sirius Black!"  
"Do you have to do that every single time you enter a room?" Remus said, exasperated.  
"Yes. By the way," he turns to Fred and George. "Do you want a Warhammer?"  
"No!" Remus protested. "You can't give two five-year-olds a Warhammer! That's irresponsible!"  
"Five and five is ten, and ten is old enough to own a Warhammer - that's when I got my first Warhammer. Besides, when have I ever been responsible? That's your job, Remus!" He turned to the twins and gave them the hammer.  
"Well, I'm being responsible!" said Remus. "And I'm saying no hammer for them."  
The twins could barely carry the heavy hammer but Remus picked it up with ease.  
"You let James give them an_ Invisibility Cloak_," Sirius pointed out. "And I can't give them Warhammer?"  
"No," said Remus.  
"Yes," said James. "My house, my rules. Give them the Warhammer, Remus."  
With a heavy sigh, Remus gives in to peer pressure and hands over the Warhammer.

"Well, I guess I'd better give you something, too," said Remus. "It's no Warhammer, but here." He handed them a box of chocolates.  
"What are these?" George asked. "They look weird..."  
"It's chocolate," Remus said, appalled. "Have you never had chocolate before?"  
"No," said Fred. "We live at the Malfoys, where would we have gotten choc-oh-late from?"  
Remus hastily convinced them to try the chocolate; it was the best thing they'd ever tasted! It wasn't long before they'd eaten the whole box. Fred ate most of it. It was only fair - he was older - or at least that was what Fred said to George as he was eating the chocolate.  
It had been the best day of their lives over at the Marauder's. It was over far too soon, but they had to get back before they got into even more trouble than they already would have been in for - whatever the others had done wrong. It had started to become natural for the Malfoys to blame Fred and George for everything that went wrong.

They had got let out of the dungeons to help with the chores that needed to be done after the Christmas celebrations were over. They hid the Warhammer and invisibility cloak before returning to the dungeons like they had never left. After completing the chores they asked Bill and Charlie to help them hide the Warhammer. At this point, somewhat used to Fred's antics, they just accepted that Fred and George had gained a possibly illegal weapon through unknown means and agreed to help them hide the hammer. The four Weasleys were in the middle of hiding the Warhammer under their shared bed when a fifth Weasley, one Percival Weasley, walked through the door. He stood for a second, shocked, before bolting through the door shouting for the Malfoy's. The four quickly stuffed the Warhammer under the bed before Percival arrived back, Lucius in tow.  
"Fredrick and George are hiding a Warhammer" Percival exclaimed.  
"Where would they have gotten a Warhammer?" Lucius enquired "They aren't ten, everyone knows you can get a Warhammer at ten or over. I mean five + five does equal ten but only an idiot would go by that logic."  
Fred and George nodded along. Lucius was clearly right.  
"I'm right and you're wrong, I'm going to teach you a lesson about wasting my time, come along," Lucius spat as he dragged Percival along.

Fred, George, Bill, Charlie and Ginny were all waiting in silence in their bed for Percival to return. That screaming was awful. Percival returned, limping and glaring at Fred and George. "This is all _your_ fault," he snapped.


	4. Of Relationships - New and Old

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the hits! We are happy to see that so many people have been reading our work.

17th February 1985

Bill and Charlie were ready to collapse after getting the younger children ready to go to their first reading lessons. The Half-Bloods and Muggle-Borns were getting the same education as the Pure-Bloods. Charlie thought it was just so nobody at Hogwarts would get suspicious of the inequalities between the different blood statuses once the children started going there. This was their brother Ron's first year at his reading lessons. Bill and Charlie didn't see much of Ron. He was getting the same treatment as the Pure-Bloods, and being raised as a Malfoy child. Well, technically all the Weasleys were Pure-Bloods, but the Malfoys didn't like them at all. Except for Ron. Bill and Charlie had spent all morning running around and making sure that Harry, Neville, Dean, Seamus and many, many other wizarding children were all ready to look semi-presentable for their first lesson.  
Harry was on his way to his very first reading lesson. He was really excited. He had always wanted to be able to look at the letters on the pages and understand them, just like the others. He walked into the library, which was where the lessons were held, and took a seat by himself at the very back. Harry had become quite detatched from the other children his age. He hated watching them getting punished, and also it made him afraid for his own sake. He had figured that if he stayed away from them, he wouldn't have to get caught up in all the drama and torture. There was a notebook on the table already. He was quite nervous around other children his age. He preferred to be alone. He shifted nervously in his seat as another boy sat down next to him. This boy had red hair and was dressed much more smartly than Harry. He had to be a Pure-Blood.  
"Hello," said the boy. "My name is Ron. What's your name?"  
"Harry," he said. He didn't feel like talking.  
"Are you a Half-Blood, or a Muggle-Born?" asked Ron.  
"Half-Blood."  
"Well, I'm a Pure-Blood," said Ron. "I'm also a Weasley, but the Malfoys like me better than the rest of them. I think I'm their favourite child."  
Harry didn't answer. He was really nervous. Why couldn't Ron just leave him alone?  
Everyone jumped as the door to the library banged and Lucius strutted in.  
"Today we are going to be learning the alphabet," he said. "Can you all get into partners?"  
Ron tapped Harry's shoulder, but Harry ignored him.  
"Good," Lucius said, starting to use his wand to write on the board. "Now, copy the alphabet until I get back. I shall return in one hour."  
With that, he strutted back out of the library. A few of the older children started to chat, but Harry began writing out the alphabet in his notebook.  
"Don't you want to be my partner?" Ron asked, sounding offended.  
Harry didn't want to be Ron's partner, but he was too shy to say so, so he and Ron started copying out the alphabet together.  
"I already know almost all the letters," Ron said. He began showing Harry each of the letters, and which sounds they made. Harry didn't mind - he preferred to listen than to talk. By the end of the lesson, he had learned almost every letter from the alphabet and lots of information about Ron's interests. He hadn't told Ron much about himself - Ron hadn't asked - but he went back to the Babykeepers feeling very happy that he had made a new friend. Even better, a friend who did enough talking for both of them so that he didn't have to.

One day, Lucius approached Harry and Ron in the library. Harry had been spending more and more time with Ron over the past few weeks. Harry had still had to watch the others getting punished, but it had been from a more outside perspective and Harry hadn't felt as much emotion watching it happen.  
"How would you like to be treated like a Pure-Blood from now on?" Lucius asked Harry. "This, of course, would be a permanent arrangement."  
Harry nodded, too frightened to speak. He was just relieved he wasn't going to be punished.  
"I've seen you and Ron together," Lucius continued. "And Ron is happy around you. I will deny Ron nothing. From now on, you will be treated like a Pure-Blood."

March 20th 1985

Lily was mad. James hadn't dropped the 'I have a son' thing and it was getting really aggravating. She would remember if she had a son, that wasn't the kind of thing you could forget. Those children had tricked him somehow, James had always been one to put his full unquestioning trust in people. Still he needed to drop it. They didn't have a son. It didn't matter how badly they wanted one.  
"Please Lily-flower, just listen," James pleaded.  
"No! Your delusional James! If you don't drop this 'son' thing I am leaving"  
"But Lily. We have a son! I knew it the moment I saw him. He has your eyes Lily," James frantically exclaimed.  
"No we don't James. Now stop, you know how much I wanted a child. Do you know how much it hurts to sit here and listen to you babble on about an imaginary child like a madman." Lily's voice was full of emotion as she stared at her husband.  
"Lil please-" James was cut off.  
"I'm leaving," Lily whispered, and with that Lily Potter stormed out of the house leaving a shocked James in her wake.

June 3rd 1985

James was going to get his son. He had snuck into the Malfoy Mannor pretending to be a mailman and now all he needed to do was find his son and take him home. James' train of thought was cut off by steadily approaching voices.  
"Stupid kids. Letting a Mailman in the house!"  
"Don't worry Lucius dear, we'll deal with those brats later."  
It was Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy! James began to panic. What should he do? Where should he hide? He was out of time so he did the only thing he could think of. Narcissa let out a yelp of shock. There was a deer standing in her dining room. This deer was James Potter, trying very hard to act like a deer. It was working, she had no clue he wasn't a deer.  
"Who let a deer in here!" Narcissa exclaimed.  
"I don't know but I will find out!" Lucius declared as they both left to find who had put a deer in their dining room.  
All according to plan. James left the dining room searching until he found the boy he was looking for.  
"Harry! It's me, your father come to rescue you!" James was overjoyed.  
"Um..okay. I'm sorry sir but I don't need rescuing," James felt his heart shatter in his chest.  
"Now if you'll excuse me Ron is waiting for me." Harry nodded to James and left.  
James couldn't believe it. How could Harry not want to be saved? From Fred and Georges description the Malfoy's was a terrible place to live. Completely disheartened James left to go bemoan this tragedy at home.


	5. The Troubles and Triumphs of Planning a Revolution

1985-1989

Fred and George still hadn't dropped their 'Acts of Martyrdom'. Every other day, it seemed, they were taking the blame for something or other that someone else had done. Today, it Lucius was standing in front of all of the Muggle-Born and Half-Blood children.  
"Penelope Clearwater," he said gruffly. "Come out here."  
A very scared-looking girl who must have been a couple of years older than Fred and George - maybe about Percival's age - scuttered out to the front of the room.  
"You were supposed to kill all the rats in the kitchen!" Lucius snarled in her face. "Why, then, did I just see one?"  
George piped up. Fred was always the one taking the blame for these things, so he decided it must be his turn this time. "That wasn't Penelope, sir," he said. "It was me."  
"I told Clearwater to do it," Lucius said.  
"She was busy," George explained. "And I had a bit of spare time. So I told her I would do it."  
"Come with me," was all Lucius said.  
George nervously followed Lucius outside, wondering what creative punishment would be inflicted upon him this time. He was lead outside into the gardens, through the snow and round the back towards the pool.  
"Go on then," Lucius said. "What are you waiting for? Jump in!"  
George nervously glanced from the pool to Lucius and back again. Then, he took a deep breath, went up towards the edge of the pool and leapt. He landed in the water and with every passing moment, he could feel a blade of ice stabbing his body. Gasping for air, he clamoured onto the side of the pool and hauled himself back up again onto dry land where he lay at Lucius' feet.

For the next few years, Fred and George made their plans for a revolution more public with the other Muggle-Borns and Half-Bloods. They figured that. if they all one day rebelled against the Malfoys, then the Malfoys, unsuspecting and unprepared, would never stand a chance of winning, and be forced to change things. Especially once the Ministry of Magic sussed out what was going on, Lucius could lose his job and his reputation.  
There were, of course, a few people who could not know about it: Percival, Harry, Ron, and the rest of the Pure-Bloods could not be trusted. Fred and George had become impressively adept at performing magic for their age. During the summers, Bill and Charlie taught the younger children everything they would about curses, hexes, charms and defense spells. They even started coming back to the Malfoy Manor over the Christmas holidays just so they could teach the others more spells. And during the term-time, Fred and George, being the most advanced children not yet at Hogwarts, taught the other children everything they knew, and helped them expand on what Bill and Charlie had taught them. They had a reasonably long list of people who were eager to help them with a revolution, and who were trusted enough to keep everything a secret from the Malfoys. Pretty much everyone who was not a Pure-Blood was all up for helping Fred and George. The children spent their every spare moment planning and preparing for the revolution and practising their practical fighting skills, as well as whatever magic they could with the limited resources they had.

It was on one of these days when Fred and George were helping the others train how to block spells in the dormitory (without actually casting magic, since they had no wands. They were just practising wrist movements and incantations) when Zacharias Smith ran the twins into some trouble.  
"I think all the Malfoys are cruel," he said. "I wish we could just destroy them right now. Why do we have to wait?"  
Suddenly Percival's head popped through the doorway. "What's going on?" he asked. "Who said that? Was it you, Fred and George? I bet it was you! I'm telling Mr. Malfoy!"  
He disappeared, without seeming to have noticed anything strange going on, fortunately, and the others listened in horrified silence to his running footsteps echoing down the hallway.  
"I'm so sorry," Zacharias whispered, terrified.  
"It's cool," said Fred. "We're quite used to it by now, to be honest."  
Not long after, Percival appeared back in the room with Lucius.  
"Fred, George, follow me," he said. "The rest of you, get back to your work."  
Nobody objected to this - everyone was too afraid. Fred and George exchanged nervous glances before treading in Lucius' wake up into his office where most of their punishments took place.  
"George, you first," Lucius said. "Come here."  
George took a few steps forward and tried to concentrate on how he was saving Zacharias from this torture instead of Lucius' wand, which was pointing right at him.  
Lucius uttered a spell, and George cried out in pain as he felt the blood in his veins begin to boil. Literally boil. All over his body, the pain of extreme heat coursed through his veins. His knees buckled and he fell to the floor as the curse was finally lifted. The cool air rushed around his body, engulfing him. He welcomed it. He could only watch in helpless horror as Fred began to scream from the same curse.

Neville was a real idiot sometimes. He'd gotten into a fight with Ron of all people. Even worse, he'd won. Somehow, Fred had managed to convince Narcissa that he had made Neville fight her precious baby, she had dragged him through to the kitchen, grabbed a pot of boiling water off the stove and threw it at him. The pain had been horrendous and Fred would have a permanent scar all across his side.

Cedric had knocked a painting off the wall. The Malfoys had immediately turned to Fred and George. George had 'admitted' to being the culprit and, despite the painting's insistence that he hadn't been the one to knock it, he got the punishment. The cutting curse. It was one of the worse punishments but Lucius was in a bad mood today so it was to be expected. Unfortunately for George Lucius aim had been a bit off. All too suddenly George was clutching his hand, his ring finger and part of his middle finger on the floor. Even Lucius was shocked for a moment but quickly came to his senses.  
"That's what you get boy! Now stop getting blood all over my carpet."  
Gorge didn't move as he stared lankly at his hand. A bit unnerved at the lack of response Lucius called on Bill and Charlie to help George stop the bleeding.

It had all become too much for Fred, when Lucius had yelled at him he screamed back.  
"Why should I care what you think, you abusive waste of space, what your doing is illegal you know! I could call the Aurors and get you arrested!"  
"Why you little brat!"  
George stared in shock as Lucius grabbed his brother by the arm and pulled.  
"Wait! Please," George cried.  
Lucius stopped his eyes flickering down to George's still bandaged hand. Suddenly, he grabbed George and threw both of the twins in the dungeon.  
"Don't think you'll be getting out to eat anytime soon either," he said as he slammed the heavy door.  
That could have gone so much worse, George wasn't entirely sure why it didn't. He was just happy his brother was safe. That night, the brothers settled down in the corner of the cold room and tried to ignore their protesting stomachs as they slipped away into the realm of unconsciousness.


	6. The Sorting Hat's Decision

1st September 1989

It was time. Fred and George stood looking at the train that would take them to Hogwarts. They were concerned about how the others would do in their absence but there was nothing they could do about that.

The train ride was uneventful itself; George spent his time reading while Fred went around talking with the other first years. Then they arrived. A large man named Hagrid led them to the boats. Everyone gasped in awe as they got their first view of the castle: it was huge and you could practically feel the magic that saturated the air as you drew closer.  
Everyone filed through the doors and gazed around the great hall. There were five tables: the teachers table, the overcrowded Hufflepuff table, the empty Griffindor and Ravenclaw tables, and the Slytherin table. The sorting went as everyone expected with the purebloods going to Slytherin and everyone else going to Hufflepuff. Until Fred sat the hat on his head and it cried out,  
"Ravenclaw".  
The hall went silent as Fred went across to sit at the blue table. The surprise continued when George and then Rodger joined Fred.

22nd November 1989

George liked it here at Hogwarts. He was sitting in the otherwise empty common room doing his Potions homework. He wasn't expecting to get a very good grade in it, though. Professor Snape didn't seem to like him. Or Fred. He kept finding himself getting distracted, staring into the flames of the fireplace and wondering how everyone else was getting on. How was Ginny doing? Hopefully, she was staying out of trouble. George still hadn't got over losing his finger. Roger Davies was also in Ravenclaw, but he was up in the dormitory with Fred. Roger hadn't been very nice to Fred and George since they arrived at Hogwarts. George was sick of being teased about his finger.  
Suddenly, he heard footsteps echoing down the stairs. His head snapped back down to the Potions textbook, and he pretended to concentrate.  
"George?" came Fred's voice from the stairway. "You should be in bed."  
"Not with this Potions essay due tomorrow, I shouldn't be," George replied wearily.  
"You can copy mine," Fred said.  
"And get us both in detention? No thanks."  
Fred sighed. "At least then come with me for a walk to get a break. I was going to go alone because I can't sleep. But I don't mind you tagging along."  
"I'm fine," George insisted.  
"Come on, George. You know I'm the superior brother. I know best, and you have to listen to me."  
George let out a resigned sigh and pushed his books aside to follow Fred outside. He was worried they would get into trouble. What was Fred thinking? But he didn't want to say anything.  
"Let's go upstairs," said Fred almost excitedly. "We're only on the fifth floor - I want to go higher."  
So up they went. It wasn't long before they reached the seventh floor. George was just thinking about how useful it would be if they had a place to train for the revolution with the others. He had no idea where they would go, though.  
"Oh, look at that funny tapestry," Fred giggled. "Let's go back and look at it."  
The boys backtracked to the tapestry and looked at it. I was a very peculiar tapestry. It looked like a man trying to teach trolls how to do ballet. The boys kept walking for a few steps, and suddenly, out of nowhere, a door appeared on the wall.  
"I could swear that wasn't here before," George said.  
"Let's go and look," Fred said.  
George wasn't sure that was such a good idea; magic doors aren't usually the best places to go through. But, he supposed Fred did know best. The boys entered the room and gasped in amazement. The room was vast and empty. It didn't look like much, but, to the boys, it was everything they needed. The perfect place to begin their training for the revolution.  
"What is this place?" breathed Fred.  
George didn't answer, but he knew exactly where they were. He remembered reading about it in a book back at the Malfoy Manor one day. They were standing in the Room of Requirement. George realised that to enter it, one had to walk past the door three times thinking about what they needed.  
"Tomorrow," George said. "Why don't we get everyone to come here? We can tell them how to enter it - you have to walk past the door three times and think about a place to train for the revolution."  
"Oh, yes," said Fred. "I remember reading about it now."  
So, they excitedly returned to the dormitory, agreeing on the way that they had to keep it a secret from Roger at all costs. Fred went to bed, making a mental note of everyone whom they had to inform, and George continued working on his Potions essay, even more distracted than he had been before.


	7. The Prophecy (and Giant Spiders)

12th December 1989

George was not well. He had dealt with a lot of illness' before but this felt different. He was hot and shaky and the world seemed to sway around him. It all built until he collapsed in the middle of Herbology. When he woke up George found himself in the medical room. Madame Pomfrey was worriedly whispering to Professor Flitwick and George decided to listen in.  
"The boy's covered in scars Fillius"  
"I know but there is nothing we can do. Lucius has a tight grip on the Ministry even if we report this it won't do anything"  
"How do you know?"  
"I've tried before, many many times. I'm sorry there's nothing we can do"  
"Umm... Excuse me"  
The two adults swing around to look at George who had decided to speak up. His voice was scratchy and horse and he was shaking badly.  
"Oh! I'm sorry dear, I didn't realise you were awake. Let me get you some water and some medicine"  
"It-it's no problem really"  
George filed away the information he had learned for later. The Ministry will not help. He should go tell Fred but he was so... tired. Surely it couldn't hurt to sleep for just a bit more.  
Just as he felt his consciousness fade George heard Madame Pomfrey mutter.  
"You poor, poor child."

"Fred! Fred!" George shouted as he darted into the Ravenclaw Common Room. He was feeling much better now and had gotten out of the hospital wing the day before. "We have to go! Now!"  
"Why?" Fred asked.  
"You know that potions homework? Yeah, I didn't do it because I was sick. Now Snape is after me."  
With a resigned sigh, Fred took his brother by the hand and they made their way out of the castle and down into the Forbidden Forest. They took special care to avoid Snape's classroom and always check to see if he was coming before moving anywhere. When they got outside, the best hiding spot they could see was the trees, and so they began to weave their way through. Before long, George had completely lost his bearings.  
"What are you doing, Fred?" he asked. "Aren't we in the Forbidden Forest?"  
"Don't worry," Fred replied. "I know exactly where we are."  
"No, you don't!" George said. "We're lost!"  
"Stop it, George!" said Fred, annoyed. "I am the superior brother, and I know where we are."  
George pouted but said nothing.  
The boys kept on wandering through the Forbidden Forest, trying desperately to find their way out. Twice more, George tried to get Fred to admit that they were lost, and twice more, Fred refused, so he eventually gave up.  
After a long, long walk, Fred flopped down onto a fallen log in despair.  
"Okay, fine," he said. "We're lost."  
George sat down beside his twin.  
"It is my fault," he said. "I should have just done the stupid Portions homework."  
Fred could only agree.  
Suddenly, George's head snapped up, alert.  
"Fred," he said, tugging on the hem of his brother's sleeve. "There's something moving in there."  
Fred stood up and shouted. "Show yourself!"  
A strange creature emerged from the clearing. It was a creature with the head and torso of a man, but the legs and body of a horse.  
"Centaurs," George breathed. He had learned all about them in Care of Magical Creatures.  
"Hello," the centaur said, slowly being surrounded by more and more. Fred reckoned there must have been at least fifteen. "The stars have told me to tell you of the prophecy."  
"Excuse me?" Fred said. "What prophecy?"  
"Many years ago," the centaur continued. "Before you were born, we centaurs along with two other humans attempted to create a spell to destroy He Who Must Not Be Named. It didn't go quite according to plan, however, and we ended up sending all wizarding children to the Malfoys, and the Malfoys' sole heir to the Weasleys. You look like Weasleys yourself."  
"Woah!" George cried. "We have parents?!"  
"He's obviously lying, stupid," Fred snapped.  
"Well, where do you propose all those babies come from, then?" George asked.  
Unable to think of a response, Fred changed the subject. "Wait for a second," he said to the centaur. "You said there were two humans with you. Who?"  
"Albus Dumbledore," said the centaur. "And A.F."  
"A.F," Fred said. "Who is that?"  
But the centaurs were already leaving, and Fred's question was left unanswered.  
"A.F." Fred repeated.  
Meanwhile, George was wondering how a delusional old man such as Dumbledore could possibly have taken part in such complex magic.

Then there was another rustle. Fred turned expecting to see the centaur. Instead, he came face to face with a spider. A gigantic hungry-looking spider. Fred drew his wand preparing to Punch that spider in the face. With magic. Unfortunately, before Fred could launch himself at the giant man-eating spider George grabbed his arm and pulled yanking Fred along as he fled. The spider took chase but George nimbly dodged its attacks and sped away until they reached the edge of the wood. Fred sat for a minute catching his breath before he turned to snap at George.  
"I had that under control!"  
"I'm sorry. I panicked. I just wanted to get away from that thing, Giant spiders tend to be quite magic proof and I didn't think we could take it in a physical fight."  
"I had it handled! Where did you learn that anyway!"  
"I read ahead in care. Asked Hagrid, the groundskeeper, some questions. He knows a lot about dangerous magical creatures. Also sorry for implying you don't know what you're doing"  
"Uhg...It's fine, idiot"


	8. Commotion in the Common Room

After the twins had finally found their way out of the Forbidden Forest and back up to the Ravenclaw Common Room, it was almost midnight. When they got there, they were surprised to discover that Roger Davies was still up.  
"Where were you sneaking off to?" he confronted them as soon as they walked through the door.  
"We were hiding from Snape if you must know," Fred said coldly.  
"Maybe today," Roger said. "But what about all the other times? Where were you then?"  
"What other times?" asked George in a small voice.  
"You two have been sneaking out every other evening," said Roger, throwing his hands up in the air. "Don't go thinking I haven't noticed!"  
"It's none of your business where we go," Fred snapped.  
"I bet you are sneaking off working on some kind of plot!" Roger said. "I bet you are trying to overthrow Lucius and Narcissa!"  
Fred bit his lip, refusing to speak.  
"Oh, so you are..."  
"No!" Fred shouted, making poor George jump out of his skin. "We are out on private matters that you don't need to know about! And they definitely do not have anything to do with the Malfoys!"  
Of course, this last part was a lie; the boys and several other students had been meeting and training for their Revolution in the Room of Requirement almost every evening, but he wasn't going to tell that to Roger - he would surely grass them up to the Malfoys.  
Roger looked startled at Fred's sudden outburst, but he gathered up his homework and stormed upstairs without another word.

The rest of the year past without incident. Fred and George took care to avoid Rodger as they continued training and before they knew it summer had come around. The two went home and happily greeted the younger kids. George had missed them all dearly during the time he spent at Hogwarts. Sadly, they were back under the Malfoy's wrath at home. They had just started to get used to proper meals. The biggest positive of being home was now they could properly help train the others. Help train 'The-Boy-Who-Lived". It was going to be a long summer.


	9. The Misadventures of Neville's Crew

It was the 1st of September again. Neville's least favourite day of the year. This was the day when all the older children got to go to Hogwarts, and he had to stay behind.  
"Only one more year," he told himself. One more year and then he could go with Fred and George and all the others to learn magic. One more year of being here, at Malfoy Manor, the last place on Earth he ever wanted to be.  
He, Dean and Seamus were making the lunch. Dean was just telling them about how he had seen a spider bigger than his hand when -  
BOOM!  
Neville jumped and Dean yelped as the toaster that Seamus was meant to be tending blew up.  
It wasn't long before they heard thundering footsteps and Lucius appeared in the doorway.  
"What was that?" he thundered.  
"I-I'm sorry, sir," Seamus said, trembling. "The toaster... it just-"  
"Enough!" Lucius shouted. "I bet this is Fred and George's work. Well, I have to punish somebody. No lunch for you, Seamus Finnigan."  
He grabbed Seamus by the arm and pulled him away, leaving Dean and Neville to stare at one another in shock.  
"Master scares Dobby sometimes," said one of the house elves from the sink. The Malfoys seemed to like to put the children to work, even though they had house elves.  
"Dobby can bring Mr Finnigan some bread later," he continued.  
"Thank you, Dobby," said Neville. "Seamus will like that."  
The house elf - Dobby - smiled and continued drying the dishes.

Dean was out in the gardens tending to some flowers. He actually enjoyed this task, not that he would ever let anyone know that. He had just finished weeing the geraniums when he saw something move out the corner of his eye. He turned around and saw Harry, Ronald's weird half-blood friend. Harry froze looking like a deer in headlights before he proceeded to do one of the most impressive pieces of gymnastics Dean had ever seen and Back flipped into a tree. Dean blinked before turning back to his flowers. Nope. He was not dealing with whatever that was. Not today. Instead, he called on Seamus.  
"Hey, Seamus! can you come over here for a sec?"  
"Yeah? What's up?"  
Before Dean could reply there was a small explosion noise and the tree was on fire.  
"WHAT DID YOU JUST DO!"  
"I don't know!"  
"The tree's on fire"  
"I know Dean!"  
"Put it out"  
"How am I supposed to do that?"  
"I don't know just do SOMETHING!"  
"Ok ok I will go get some water"  
Out of the corner of his eye, Dean saw a figure speed away and he breathed a sigh of relief. Harry was safe. 

Meanwhile, Neville had finished off his chores early, a very rare occurrence, and had decided to attempt some training. He felt like he should be better at this already. After all wasn't he the one who defeated Voldemort as a baby? Now he could barely lift a feather with his mind. Said feather floated inches off the desk. Neville sighed.  
"I'll never be any good at this"

Seamus hadn't meant for this to happen. Yet here he was, staring up at a confused and insulted Narcissa. He could still save this. She would never think that bugs like them would rise up against her. They were nonentities. He just needed a lie convincing enough that she could fit it into her perfect worldview.  
"What. What did you just say?"  
"Revelation. I said Revelation, the board game"  
"How would you know about any board games?"  
"I was cleaning up after the high bloods and I saw it."  
"Well. That makes sense. Just don't go getting any ideas"  
"I won't ma'am"  
"Now get out of my sight"  
So he got out of her sight, situation diffused. Wow, he really needed to be more careful. It wouldn't be long until he got to go to Hogwarts anyway. They all just needed to survive until then.


	10. The Sorting Hat's Decisions (2)

September 1st 1991

Draco was very excited. He was finally going to meet people his own age. He did like Sirius, but he was 42, and Draco had never met anyone his own age. He just wanted to make friends. His parents kissed him goodbye, and he got on the train. He burst into a carriage, the door banging loudly against the wall.  
"Hello, new friend!" he cried.  
The girl in the carriage looked at him in surprise and blinked once. "Who are y-you?"  
"I am Draco Weasley," he declared, waving his arm around dramatically. "I am here to be your friend."  
"Hi..." the girl said. "I am Hermione. Nice to meet you."  
"Nice to meet you, too," Draco said, grinning from ear to ear. He sat down beside her, uninvited, and proceeded to talk at her, telling her his life story, until the train arrived. Hermione listened politely.  
Draco dragged Hermione off of the train and forced her to share a boat with him. He was vibrating with happiness. A new friend! His first friend. Upon entering the great hall, Draco gasped in awe and proceeded to talk at Hermione some more about how amazing this place was.  
He was very upset when he realised that he would be the last person to be sorted. A Weasley, in a school full of Malfoys. He watched as everybody else got sorted.

"Malfoy, Dean!"  
"Hufflepuff!"  
"Malfoy, Harry!"  
"Slytherin!"  
"Malfoy, Hermione!"  
"Hufflepuff!"  
"Malfoy, Neville!"  
"Hufflepuff!"  
"Malfoy, Ron!"  
"Slytherin!"  
"Malfoy, Seamus!"  
"Hufflepuff!"

"Weasley, Draco!  
Finally. Draco bounded up the steps and leapt into the chair, stuffing the hat on his head.  
"Hi!" he said. "Nice song. Put me in Gryffindor, please."  
Gasps echoed throughout the hall.  
"You do realise you can speak in your head!" the sorting hat said.  
"Yeah, I know," Draco said. "Please put me in Gryffindor. Do you want to be friends?"  
"Wha- I- okay, Gryffindor!"  
Draco stood and applauded himself as there was nobody at the Gryffindor table to applaud him. He said goodbye to his new friend - the sorting hat and sat down, but at the Ravenclaw table, as there was nobody else at the Gryffindor table and he didn't want to be alone. He thought he was doing very well at making new friends. He had met two people and made two new friends. He smiled as he ate and made three new Ravenclaw friends: Fred, George and Roger Davies. Roger Davies was very grumpy, but Draco liked him anyway. He went to his common room. It was very big.

He greeted his new head of house, Professor McGonagall, who seemed very happy he was there. He was okay with the fact that she was there, but he knew a lot of adults. He had lots of fun pushing two double beds together and making a quadruple bed. He went to sleep feeling very satisfied that he had had a great first day. Everyone liked him. He was sure of it.


	11. Draco's Misadventures

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We apologise for taking so long to get this chapter out. We were both very busy over the Christmas period and had some important exams at school over January, so we had to prioritise them.

4th October 1991

Draco was really missing his friend, the sorting hat. He had just been gone, since the sorting. So, he had made a plan. He had asked Dumbledore for the password, and Dumbledore had given him the password, not suspecting a thing. It had been easy enough. So he snuck into Dumbledore's office, grabbed the sorting hat and ran. Sneakily. Not snake-sneakily, but lion-sneakily. His parents would be so proud. Once he had gotten back to his dormitory, and started a conversation with the sorting hat.  
"What's your name?"  
"I don't have a name; I'm a hat."  
"Well, I'll give you a name. How about Barnaby?"  
The hat opened its mouth to reply, but Draco, suddenly remembering Hermione, didn't wait around, and ran to get her.  
He burst in on all of the Hufflepuffs.  
"Hey, Hermione!" he yelled. "Come and meet Barnaby!"  
"How did he get in here? Hermione, did you let him in?" Seamus said.  
"No," Hermione said, exasperated as Draco began to pull her towards the door. "What kind of a name is Barnaby, anyway?"

"You stole the sorting hat?" Hermione asked, even more exasperated now.  
"It's not stealing," Draco said. "I'm going to give it back. I learned that from a great mentor of mine."  
"Sorry," said Barnaby to Hermione. "I didn't agree to this."  
Draco, not seeming to have heard this, said, "Now we can all the friends together. We can hang out, we can do homework, we can... hang out..."  
"I have homework to do, actually," Hermione said.  
"I'll help-"  
"It's fine..." Hermione said, quickly backing out the door. "I'm just going to go now."

Draco had just gotten out of Transfiguration. It was Halloween and he couldn't have been better. Then he saw his bestie Hermione running past him in tears and suddenly Draco was having a significantly less good day. He turned the corner and saw Ron cackling. He suddenly understood and gained the sudden urge to punch Ronald in the face. Repressing that urge he confronted Harry about what had happened. "Harry, what happened?" "Ronald insulted Hermione. She took it badly. Not surprising as this has been going on for a while." "Ok goodbye." It was now harder to suppress the urge to punch Ronald in the face. He wanted to comfort Hermione but she wasn't in her forms or the library and then he found out she was in the bathroom and he couldn't go into the girls' toilet. His mum taught him manners after all.

There was a troll in the dungeon. According to Quirrel the suspicious defence teacher at least. He had to save Hermione. He could go get a teacher or older student but this was a great opportunity to solidify his friendship. So he rushed to the girls' bathroom. Well tried to, there was a troll in the way. He managed to run past it into the bathroom but it followed him in. Now both Hermione and him were trapped in the bathroom. What an unusual bonding experience this was.

Hermione looked at him terrified tears still in her eyes and Draco suddenly got the feeling he should have brought back up. Luckily for him, he was able to remember a spell he had learned off of Sirius. it was time to punch a troll in the face with magic. He cast the spell levicorpus and the troll suddenly flipped upside down Draco dropped the spell and the troll fell on its head knocking it unconscious.

Slowly, Hermione got to her feet and walked over towards Draco. She opened her mouth, the words 'thank you' on her lips. She never got to thank Draco, however, because Professors Snape, McGonagall, Flitwick and Quirrell all came stampeding into the bathroom.  
"Would you care to explain yourself?" Professor McGonagall thundered at Draco.  
Draco opened his mouth and closed it again. What could he say? He didn't want to get his new best friend into trouble. He was just about to try and say something when Hermione piped up from beside him.  
"It's was my fault, professor," she said, her eyes averted to the floor. "When I heard there was a troll, I thought I could handle it. I've read so much about them, you see. Draco saved me."  
Professor McGonagall seemed surprised at this revelation. "Well, Miss Granger, I expected better of you. Five points will be taken from Hufflepuff for your serious lack of judgement. As for you, Mr Malfoy, five points will be awarded to Gryffindor for your sheer dumb luck."  
"Thank you, Professor," Draco was bubbling with excitement. His smile was so wide, he thought it might actually split his face. He looked to Professor Snape, who was scowling. Then, he noticed something strange. Snape's trousers were ripped, and his knee had blood on it. What had happened? Snape snarled as he yanked his cloak over the leg to hide it. He limped away with the other teachers, leaving Draco and Hermione standing in the bathroom next to the unconscious troll.


	12. A (Bad) Realisation

25th November 1991

Harry and Ron were walking back to the Slytherin Common Room. They were on their way back from Flying Class. Harry was glad it was over; it had been very stressful trying to stop Ron from falling off of his broom every two minutes. As they rounded the corner, Harry saw Fred and George immediately. Their red hair stuck out like a sore thumb. They were just walking back and forwards, pacing. They were up to something. Harry grabbed Ron's arm and hauled him back around the corner before either of the twins could notice anything.  
"What?" Ron asked, angry.  
Harry only put a finger to his lips. "Look."  
Ron looked. "What do you think they're doing?" he asked Harry.  
Harry wasn't sure why Ron expected him to know, so he only shrugged.  
Suddenly, the wall opened up. Fred and George stepped inside. Without thinking, Harry grabbed Ron's hand and pulled him along behind him, sprinting for the wall. When they were about halfway there, the wall began to close over again.  
"Faster!" Harry yanked Ron's arm to help him keep up.  
They went inside the wall with a few moments to spare before it banged shut behind them. Fred and George were in the middle of the room.  
Ron was looking all around in awe. "Woah," he said.  
Harry cringed as Fred and George whirled around.  
"Ron?" Fred asked. "What are you doing here?"  
Ron pointed to Harry. "He made us follow you."  
"You followed us all the way here?" Fred asked, turning red, his anger rising.  
"No, we only saw you in the corridor," Harry said quickly, trembling from the nerves that social interaction brought on.  
"What are you doing?" Ron asked. "Why is there so much stuff? What's it all for?"  
Harry realised what it was for, but was too shy to say.  
"Nothing," George said. "Mind your own business."  
"It's for the Revolution," Harry whispered in Ron's ear.  
"So Percival was right all along?" Ron said. "Come on, Harry, we have to get him to send an owl to the Malfoys, and then they can put a stop to this."  
"No, please don't do that!" Fred begged, but Ron was having none of it. He pounded on the wall, to get it to open, and, to Harry's surprise, it did.  
"How did you do that?" he asked Ron.  
Ron had no idea, but Fred and George knew it was because it was Ron's greatest desire was to get out of the Room of Requirement and get to Percy right then. Now it was Ron's turn to pull Harry down the corridor, all the way to the Slytherin Common Room.  
Percival was sitting in one of the armchairs, and Ron sprinted up to him, tapping him on the shoulder again and again until he looked up in annoyance.  
"What is it?" he half-yelled.  
"It's Fred and George," Ron explained, almost speaking faster than he could think. "Harry and I saw them. They're planning a Revolution!"  
Percival's face grew smug. "I told you so," he said. "And you didn't believe me."  
"I'm sorry," Ron said. "I'm sorry, but please send an owl to the Malfoys. Before they can get any further in their plans."  
Percival thought for a moment. "I will do it for the pleasure of seeing Lucius Malfoy's reaction when he realises that I was right all along."

They wrote the letter to Lucius and left to post it when Fred and George confronted them.  
"Hey stop" Fred yelled blocking their way.  
"Get out of our way you freaks before I make you" Percival said smirking.  
"No you can't send that letter, please" George replied.  
"Oh if you think I'm about to pass up on an opportunity to prove that I was right all along then you are more of an idiot than I thought" Percival's smirk only grew.  
"Hey look you better stop, were not getting into trouble because you jumped to conclusions" Fred spat.

"Wait. Jumped to conclusions?" Harry inquired.  
"Yeah, we're not planning a revolution. We just help the younger ones with practical magic because they didn't get any beginners lessons like you did" George explained, his voice soft like he was trying to calm down a wild animal.  
"Oh" Harry responded. That was reasonable and definitely something the twins would do.  
"Urg stop! I know your lying and when the Malfoys find out you're going to suffer" Percival said desperately trying to take control of the conversation. It didn't work.  
"Well I apologize. We did jump to conclusions there because of what Percival said." Harry said.  
"Oh come on you can't actually believe that Ronald back me up" Percival countered.  
But Ron was gone having been distracted at some point during the conversation.  
"The Malfoys will believe me over you" Harry said and turned away ignoring Percival's glare.

Percivals glare turned on Fred and George once Harry had left. He grabbed George by his shirt and growled,  
"If you think this is over you are wrong I will prove I'm right and the day I do I will revel in your pain" with that he let go of George pushing him slightly and stalked off through the halls in a rage.


	13. A Dangerous Discovery

3rd February 1992

Nothing had ever come of the letter to the Malfoys, so Fred figured that Percival must really never have sent it. He and George were on their way back from Charms when the staircase moved. Grasping onto the bannister, they rushed to the top of the staircase before it had the chance to move again.Fred felt George tap him on his shoulder.  
"What?" he whirled around.  
"I think this is the third floor," George whispered.  
Fred looked around, realising that his twin brother was right. They were just about to leave when Mrs Norris appeared.  
"We're done for!" George cried.  
Fred grabbed his hand and they ran towards the door. Upon trying the handle, it was locked. Fred whipped out his wand and cast Alohomora. The lock clicked, and the door swung open. The two boys were able to dart into the room just in time for Filch's arrival. They waited in a stunned silence until he was gone.  
George turned around to lean against the door in relief and froze in horror. Fred turned around to see it. A massive, three-headed dog. It looked hungry... Its paws were huge, and it seemed to be standing on a trapdoor. Fred tried to take in all the details he could, to lock them away in his memory and save them for later, but George grabbed him and pulled him out of the room, slamming the door shut.  
"What was that for?" Fred asked.  
"I was just, you know, saving your life!" George said irritably.  
"I was trying to remember all the valuable information," said Fred.  
"Like what?" George asked. "What 'valuable information' did you remember?"  
"It was guarding a trapdoor," Fred said. "But not much else, because you pulled me away. I am the superior brother, remember?" With that they made their way to the Ravenclaw Common Room.

On their way back to the common room the twins were stopped by the sound of a heated argument they peered round the corner to see Neville, Seamus and Dean arguing with Ron and Harry. Well more accurately just Ron, Harry was just standing off to the side.  
"Come on! What's a hapless pushover and a loudmouth idiot gonna do anyways!" Ron confidently exclaimed. "Take that back right now!" Neville had to hold Seamus back from launching himself at Ron sparks flying across his fingertips ready to ignite. "You gonna make me?" Ron taunted seemingly not aware of how dangerously close he was to being exploded. Harry however tensed ready to interfere. Fred and George made a move to go de-escalate the situation but before they could react Quirrel appeared.  
"Wh-What are you boys doing n-no fighting in the hall!"  
"But sir they-" Neville started  
"I-I don't want any excuses f-from you boy!" "Sir if we may intrude"  
"We saw what happened" Fred and George took the opportunity to step out and make themselves known.  
"Fred, George you have no idea the things they've been saying about you" Dean exclaimed.  
"About us?" George said.  
"Stop this nonsense! I already know what happened 30 points from Hufflepuff"  
"Wait, didn't you have a stutter before sir?"George inquired confused.  
"O-Of course I have a st-stutter st-stop your yammering before m-marks get taken off R-Ravenclaw too"  
"Of course sorry sir" Fred very reluctantly conceded.

Quirrel accepted the apology and wandered off.  
There was something off about Quirrel but Fred would have to come back to that. Right now he had this fight to deal with.  
"So I guess I'm the loudmouth idiot huh?" Fred asked.  
Ron, for all his earlier confidence was apparently unwilling to face Fred head on as he quickly scampered off.  
"Are you boys ok? George asked worriedly.  
"Were fine don't worry" Neville replied.  
"Hey don't get into fights for us okay. Were not damsels who need their honour protecting" Fred said "well maybe George is but not me"  
"Hey!" George exclaimed slightly offended  
"Ok we won't sorry" Dean replied and with that the three boys headed back to their forms.


	14. Neville's Adventure

4th June 1992

George followed Fred through the corridors from Potions back to the Ravenclaw Common Room. He almost lost his footing as three students rushed past him and sprinted down into Professor McGonagall's office.  
"Hey!" he shouted as he put a hand out into the wall to catch himself, but the students took no notice of him. Upon further inspection, he realised that the three students were Neville, Seamus and Dean.  
"Hey, Fred, look!" he said. "I wonder what they are doing."  
Fred looked. "Let's follow them," he said.  
The twins crept down the corridor and heard the muffled voices it sounded like Neville was negotiating something with McGonagall.  
"Please, Professor," Neville was saying. "This is important. It's about the philosopher's stone."  
"Snape - I mean, someone is trying to steal it," said Dean.  
"I can assure you the stone is safe," said McGonagall. "Now please go quietly back to your dormitory."  
"But Dumbledore-" Seamus began.  
"Enough! Professor Dumbledore is not here. He will return tomorrow."  
Fred and George looked to each other in dismay. They had read all about the philosopher's stone and knew how precious it was.  
"We can't let the boys go down there themselves tonight," said Fred.  
"How do you know they will try?" asked George.  
"Because this is Neville, Seamus and Dean we are talking about," said Fred. "I am the superior brother, and I know. You don't get to question it."  
George sighed. Then, he cast his mind back to what had happened between Quirrell and the three younger boys in the corridor that day weeks ago.  
"Snape isn't going to steal the stone," he said suddenly. "Quirrell is."  
"Excuse me?" said Fred.  
"Think about it," said George. "Quirrell seems to hate Neville. You saw him give him into trouble that day, and not speak to Ron and Harry at all."  
"So?"  
"Neville is the boy who lived. Voldemort wants him dead."  
"Who said anything about Voldemort?"  
"Can you think of anyone else who would want the stone?" George patiently explained.  
"No..."  
"Quirrell is Voldemort somehow," George thought aloud. "I don't know how, but somehow."  
Finally, Fred realised. "And Neville is about to walk right into a place where Voldemort can easily kill him."  
George nodded. "Exactly. We can't let them go down there alone. We have to follow them." Later that night Fred and George snuck out of their dorm and through to the third floor corridor. Just as Fred had predicted Neville, Dean and Seamus were already there. "George remember the plan. No interfering unless it's an emergency" "This is stupid they could get hurt! We should just stop them now and go ourselves" George whispered worriedly. "Shut up! We've been training Neville for years were right here he's not in any danger. You can't keep smothering him" "I'm not-" "I said shut up! Look their moving" Indeed the trio were moving having lulled the three headed dog to sleep with an enchanted harp. Fred and George followed them through the challenges. Dean got knocked out during the chess game and as soon as the room was clear the twins rushed to his side. "Are you ok!" George helped Dean up from the pile of rubble on the floor "George! Fred! What're you doing here!"

"Did you really think we would let you go adventuring in the dungeon alone?" George replied  
"I mean no but Snape was working with Voldemort and we didn't want you to worry or anything so we thought we would deal with it ourselves" Dean replied  
"That's stupid you need to let us know about things like this. Also you were wrong it's Quirrel who's evil and despite George's 'intuition' I hardly think Voldemort's to blame for this" Fred replied scathingly. "You should go back upstairs we'll get the others and deal with this" George continued in a much softer tone. "Ok" with that Dean went upstairs and Fred and George hurried past all the traps until they reached the remaining boys trying to figure out a potions puzzle "Hey!" They turned around surprised to see the twins. "What are you doing here?" Neville cried in shock. "We are here to sort this out. You have done a great job but you are only kids. It's time for you to let us help" George said calmly. "We can do this I promise just let us do this" Neville declared determined "I know you can but you shouldn't have to. This is not your responsibility" George replied still keeping the calm soothing tone in his voice " Ok but this isn't your responsibility either" Seamus spoke up. "Maybe so" said Fred "but we still have to do this" Conceding Neville and Seamus left to go find Dean and Fred and George looked over the puzzle. It was simple enough, the real problem was the amount left in the bottle. They just barely managed to separate the potion into two small doses they had to hope it was enough. They stepped through the fire together and were met with Quirrel seemingly talking to himself.

"Where is it? Where is it? Where is it?" he said frantically pacing back and forth infront of a mirror. he glanced at the mirror and froze turning slowly to meet the boys.  
"Oh what a surprise. Two redhead freaks"  
" What is this?" a harsh voice came from Quirrel but not from his mouth.  
"What?" Fred quietly questioned.  
"Let me see them" the voice continued  
"But master" Quirrel objected.  
"No buts I said let me see them"  
With that Quirrel took off his turban and revealed a horrific second face that could only belong to one man.  
"Voldemort" Fred whispered.  
"Yes it is I! The most fearsome dark lord to ever exist! Look what I have been reduced to thanks to a near child!" Voldemort proclaimed.  
"What do you want" Fred said.  
"Simple I want the stone. I want it so I can return. Hmm how about you help me? I could give you anything you want in return"  
"Never!" George said having built up his courage.

"Ha. Cute. I wasn't really giving you a choice. Grab him"  
Before anyone could react Quirrel had his arm around George his wand pressed firmly into his head.  
"Now listen here boy you're going to do what I say or its bye bye brother" Voldemort said mockingly.  
"Don't- mff" a hand was moved to muffle George's voice.  
"Shut up you idiot boy"  
Fred looked at his brother who was begging him to not listen with his eyes. But he just couldn't let his twin die like this. So he stepped forward and looked at the mirror. He was shocked by what he saw. Him and George and everyone happy together. He had saved everyone and it was all ok Sirius smiled at him winked and placed the stone into his pocket he felt it there. Oh no.

"Do you have it?" Voldemort inquired. "Don't think about lying remember what's at stake" he pulled a struggling George closer to prove his point.  
Fred pulled out the stone and at the same time George bit down on the man's hand causing his grip to loosen just enough for him to break free and unsheath his wand.  
"Idiot! My life's not worth this!" George declared before quickly furring off the cutting curse a few times. Fred getting the message unsheathed his own wand. The first curse Quirrel was able to dodge the next one's he wasn't so lucky. The boys manage to catch him with a levicorpus just a McGonagall and Snape burst into the room. "Did- did you boys do this?" McGonagall asked shocked "Um if we say yes will you tell the Malfoys" George asked worriedly. He didn't think they would be happy with this at all. "No we won't tell them. we can deal with this from here. You two should return to your dorm. Now!" Snape snapped at them practically pushing the twins out of the room. Returning to the dorms the twins were faced with Rodger who had noticed their disappearance at some point. "Where have you two been?" Rodger demanded. "None of your business Davies" Fred said pushing past him to the dorms. Unfortunately Rodger moved back before George could follow. "C'mon just tell me where you were and I'll let you up no problem" Rodger pushed. "No" George said moving to pass him. Rodger moved again blocking the way. "It's not that hard. I know your little brain may struggle to understand but I just want to know where you were" he continued pressing. "We just went out for a walk. Please let me go to bed" George said, he truly was exhausted. "Oh and did you get into a fight during your walk?" Rodger inquired grabbing George's sleeve and pulling revealing a bruise from where he was grabbed. "Honestly I wouldn't be surprised. Fred has a temper I wouldn't be surprised if he took it out on you. Would explain a few things about your relationship as well" George didn't bother to respond. He had heard enough. He pushed past Rodger and went off to bed. He certainly had plenty to sleep on.


	15. The Aftermath

1st July 1992  
Fred and George sat on the train alone in their compartment as it traveled back to the station. They were dreading returning to the manor but knew they had no other choice if they wanted to keep the others safe.  
"We should talk about what happened" George said breaking the silence.  
"About what" Fred replied looking up from the book he had been reading.  
"The dark lord, you know being alive"  
"Well he's not alive now is he? We made sure of that"  
"He already came back from the dead once, he could do it again"  
"Oh come on Georgie what are the chances of that? You worry too much!"  
"At least consider it"  
"Even if he can come back it took him 11 years to do so. We have time and much more urgent problems to deal with. Case and point the Malfoys"  
"Oh um I guess you're right. I just can't shake the feeling we should be more worried about this"  
"Shut up George! There isn't a problem."  
George complied and looked down at his lap.  
"You were late to bed after all that happened. What was that about" Fred continued trying to change the subject.  
"Rodger stopped me. He wanted an explanation as to why we were out and I told him we just out on a walk but he noticed I was bruised and said that you probably hit me and I didn't know what to say to that so I just shoved past him which was rude of me but I was tired and I just-" George rambled happy about the change in subject until Fred cut him off.  
"Rodger said I what!" Fred yelled anger bubbling in his chest. George flinched at the sudden change in tone but answered. "He said you hit me. He thinks you have anger issues" "I would never hit you! I'll show him 'anger issues'. I'll break his nose!" Fred growled. "No! You'd just be proving him right. There's no need to get angry. What he thinks doesn't matter anyway. Just calm down, please" George said putting his hand on his brothers back. "Yeah I guess you're right" Fred grumbled. The two lapsed back into silence, enjoying their books the rest of the train ride back to their personal hell.

Fred made George pull their shared suitcase which contained their uniform and schoolbooks. The Malfoys were there waiting for the pure-bloods. Fred and George were left to look after Neville, Dean, Seamus, and the other half-bloods and muggle-borns. Fred led the way back to the Malfoy Manor, ignoring the strange looks they were getting for being such a large group.  
Upon arrival at the Manor, Fred and George were put straight to work. The Malfoys had been missing their Baby-Keepers, and the house elves were getting tired of doing all the chores.  
The summer passed in a blur, more exhausting than any amount of work Hogwarts could ever dump on them. By day, they cooked and cleaned and changed the nappies of screamng babies; by night they taught the younger children the basics of some spells they had learned in their third year. Most of the spells they had learned in Defence Against the Dark Arts, but a couple from Charms class, too. George taught the children how to spot a boggart, and got them all to figure out what their greatest fear was. They then taught them (without real wands, of course - that would have to wait until the children went to Hogwarts themselves) the incantation and wrist movements for the Boggart Banishing Spell, Ridikkulus. Fred made them all memorise the ingredients for how to brew a Confusing Concotion, although they weren't able to ever actually brew one. They would often sneak their school textbooks to the children when the Malfoys weren't looking, so they could read up on spells and potions themselves when Fred and George were busy.  
By the time the summer was over, they were both exhausted, and ready to go back to Hogwarts - their idea of a break. But, they were feeling satisfied with the work they had done over the summer, and confident that, one day, they would do a revolution against the Malfoys and end this unfair treatment once and for all.


	16. A (Not So) Romantic First Day

1st September 1992

Ron had a plan. Harry knew this was bound to go horribly wrong. Now Ron thought the twins were up to something. To find out what he needed an inside man.  
"Hey Harry do you have it?" Ron questioned.  
"If by it you mean the love potion yes. But I'm not sure-"  
"Don't worry this is going to work"  
Ron's plan was simple. The twins younger sister was attending Hogwarts this year and they were going to slip her a love potion. Once she was in love with Harry she would tell him all the twins secrets or better yet get Harry into their good books.

It was worryingly easy to convince the house- elves to slip the potion into Ginny's drink. She predictably got into Hufflepuff. All they needed to do was wait. Ron watched eagerly as Ginny took a sip of her pumpkin juice. This brought slot of attention as Ron wasn't subtle in the slightest. It was honestly a wonder he got into Slytherin.  
They were walking down the hall after the feast when Ginny confronted them.  
"Your Harry Potter right?" She said blushing slightly. The potion had worked.  
"I um yes?' Harry replied not expecting this bluntness.  
"I think I love you"  
"I-"  
"Shhh. Just come with me. We should talk in private"  
Harry was already regretting not actively objecting to the plan.

22nd October 1992

Harry had decided to stop giving Ginny the love potion weeks ago. He hadn't, of course, mentioned this to Ron. And there was nothing he could do to stop Ron from giving him endless chocolates and flowers to give to her.  
He was sitting in the Slytherin Common Room when Ron entered to give him a box of chocolates to Ginny.  
"Go give this to Ginny," he said.  
"Now?" he asked.  
"Right now," said Ron.  
With a resigned sigh, Harry got up and made his way to the door.  
"Oh, and Harry?"  
"Yes?"  
"Ask her if she's dating Draco," Ron ordered.  
Harry didn't want to do that, but he had to admit that Ginny and Draco had seemed pretty close lately. They always seemed to have meals together and do their homework in the library.  
But asking Ginny was the last thing Harry wanted to do, so he snuck up to the dormitory, and scribbled a note to Ginny.  
By the way, are you dating Draco?  
He left it outside the Hufflepuff Common Room, addressed to Ginny Weasley.

Ginny wanted to scream with frustration when she saw the box addressed to her. She wanted nothing to do with that weirdo Harry, and couldn't believe she had fancied him for a while at the start of the year. She had been giving all the gifts to Draco, so she removed the name tag from this one, and went to the Gryffindor Common Room to give him this one, too.  
"Hey, Draco," she said. "Here, I have a gift for you. Chocolates."  
"Oh, thank you very much, Ginny," said Draco.  
Ginny gave him the box and excused herself when the silence became too awkward to bear, mumbling something about having homework.  
Draco smiled to himself as Ginny left. He really liked chocolate. He opened up the box, and was surprised to see a piece of paper. He opened up the note, and read.  
By the way, are you dating Draco?  
Draco's brow furrowed in confusion. He was quite sure he wasn't dating himself. He wondered why Ginny would want to ask him that.


	17. Quarrel on the Quidditch Pitch

19th November 1992

Ginny was walking down the hall with her close friend Luna. They were heading to lunch when she spotted her other friend Draco trying to traverse the hall with out being seen, and failing miserably. Her friendship with Draco had been a strange one. He had come up to her and announced their friendship before wandering off. She had been informed by Hermione this was normal for him. Still she couldn't help but be curious about what he was up to. Grabbing Luna she followed Draco up to the headmaster's office. Following him up she watched as he took the sorting hat and turned meeting Ginny's eyes. "Ack! Ginny what are you doing here?" Draco stage whispered. " I could ask you the same thing Draco" Ginny replied. "Look I was going to tell you. After all you are so nice and were such good friends and you give me such nice gifts but I just wanted to get him first! Sorry" Draco rambled worried about upset ing his brilliant friend.

"I- look it's ok. Just, tell me what it is"  
"Yeah" Luna agreed alerting Draco to her presence.  
"This is the sorting hat my first friend" Draco proudly announces  
"I thought Hermione was your first friend?" Ginny said questionly  
"That's the cover story"  
"Yknow what ok sure fine. Let's just go to lunch," and with that the three went first to Draco s dorm and then to the hall. Draco and Luna got on well rather unsurprisingly, Ginny couldn't believe she hadn't thought of introducing the two earlier. Draco then turned to Ginny. "Oh! By the way, not that I'm not super grateful for your gifts but in the last one was a bit weird" "What? What was weird about it" Ginny replied getting ready to punch Harry if he'd tried to slip her anything. "Here look" Draco handed her the note that had been attached to the chocolate. It read 'by the way are you dating Draco'. Ginny turned as red as her hair. "Didn't put that there" she said embarrassed. She resolved to always check the gifts she was given from now on. Draco assured her it was fine, laughing at the interpreted prank.They then met up with Hermione and had a pleasant lunch together. That was until Ron sauntered up to them Harry not far behind. "Hey you freaks! What are you doing sitting at the lions' table? My father wouldn't be happy to hear about that would he?" Ron said smirking down at them. The group had never been bugged about this before and Hermione wondered why now. This was quickly answered as she looked over at the Ravenclaw table and found it missing two key members, Rodger and a first year Colin being the only ones there. " I think we should discuss this outside" Ginny suggested hoping to catch the twins outside. "No! Why would we listen to-" Ron was cut off by Harry who quietly nudged him before speaking. " That is a good idea actually. It would get us away from the teachers" "Oh! Yeah! I think we should take this outside. Meet us by the quittich pitch" Ron said.

The duo left and Draco turned to Ginny.  
" Why'd you do that?" He asked worriedly, he wasn't exactly a fighter.  
"To give us time. Hermione can you go find Fred and George" Ginny replied. Hermione nodded and headed off in the direction of the library. The others headed out to confront Ron and Harry.  
"Well, well, well. Look who decided to show up." Ron said, clearly trying to be intimidating.  
"You asked us to come here?" Draco said, completely missing the malice. Harry noted Hermione's absence but decided not to mention it.  
"Well I'm going to- OH A BUTTERFLY" Ron went completely off track as a bright blue butterfly flew past.  
"What! Where?" Draco was just as easily distracted.  
The two left after the butterfly, Harry resignedly trailing after them. After they were out of view George and Hermione appeared.  
"That was surprisingly easy" George commented.  
"That was you?" Luna turned to him  
"Oh yeah. Easy charm I'll teach you later. Anyway are you ok he didn't hurt you right?" George asked immediately worrying over the two.  
"Were fine! We just needed a distraction. It's fine. You are so embarrassing" Ginny said face flushing. She loved her brother dearly and she knew he loved her but sometimes it felt a tad much. He smiled at her apologeticly and she understood, a scar peering out from his collar was a painful reminder of why he was the way was, and Ginny couldn't ask for a better brother.


	18. Colin and the Death Eaters

Fred and George were lounging on one of the sofas in the Ravenclaw Common Room. Fred was doing some homework, and George was reading up more on Boggarts and how to banish them for his essay. He didn't have to write an essay for any of his classes, but he wanted to write one anyway. Sometimes, it was nice just the two of them sitting in the peace and quiet.  
"Hey, Fred. Hey, George," said Colin. The bubbly new first year had added so much life to the dormitory since arriving. "Oh. Where's Roger?" "He's at the hospital wing," George explained. "He accidentally Diffindo-ed himself instead of the piece of paper we were practising on in Charms class earlier." Colin grimaced. "Ooh. Wouldn't wanna be him right now. So... is it just us?" "Yeah, it's just us," said Fred. "Why?" "I have something important to tell you guys." "What?" asked Fred. "Last year," Colin explained. "Before I came to Hogwarts, there was a Death Eater meeting at the Malfoy Manor. I was serving cups of tea. Or maybe it was coffee. I can't remember-"  
"It doesn't matter," said Fred impatiently. "Can we get to the point?"  
"Right, the point," said Colin. "Yeah. Anyway, I managed to get my camera on the way back and snap some pictures. I believe they could help you identify some of the Death Eaters, and who to look out for. I've been trying to get you alone all year, but without much luck. That Davies guy is really annoying. And I was in the Hospital Wing earlier helping Madam Pomfrey re-stock medicine as detention that Snape gave me for blowing up one of his cauldrons, and I saw Roger was there. So, I knew you were alone, and I had to take the chance. Who knows when it could have come up again?"  
"Wow, Colin," said George. "That was really brave. What if you had been caught?"  
"Colin, do you have the pictures? Can we see them?" Fred asked, leaving no room for sentiment.  
"Yes," said Colin. He took the camera from around his neck and turned it on. After a good few minutes of flicking back through his gallery, he found the pictures of the Death Eaters.  
The twins craned their necks to try and make out the shapes.  
"Those are Narcissa and Lucius in the middle," said Fred.  
"And on Lucius' right are Alecto and Amycus Carrow," said George. They had been easy to recognise. They were always meeting up with the Malfoys about one thing or another.  
Colin gestured to one of the men on the far left. "I heard Mr Malfoy call him Rookwood."  
"That'll be Augustus Rookwood," said Fred. He had heard that name a few times before.  
"That man is Fenrir Greyback," said George. "He's the werewolf. Look at that scar."  
"Those two look an awful lot like Crabbe and Goyle from Slytherin House," said Colin. "Could they be their real parents?"  
"Probably," said Fred.  
"Oh, that's Scabior," said George, pointing. "He hit me once because I didn't put enough sugar in his tea."  
"That's got to be Bellatrix Lestrange," said Fred. "Nobody else has hair that curly. And those must be her siblings, Rabastan and Rodolphus."  
There were still a couple of faces they couldn't identify, either because the images were too blurred or because they had never seen them before.  
"Thanks, Colin," said Fred, many hours later. "That was a huge help."  
Colin beamed. "Next time I am serving tea at a Death Eater meeting, I'll be sure to take some more."


	19. The Heir and the Chamber

March 13th 1993

Neville was on his way to Transfiguration Class with Seamus and Dean. There had been a lot of talk lately about a Chamber of Secrets, which had apparently been opened fifty years prior and now was opened again. He was intrigued by it all and was planning to ask Professor McGonagall about it now.  
"Excuse me, Professor," he said upon entry into the classroom. "I was wondering if you could tell me about the Chamber of Secrets?"  
McGonagall reluctantly agreed, "There were four founders of Hogwarts, as you know, Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw and Salazar Slytherin. Salazar Slytherin believed that only pure-bloods should be allowed into Hogwarts, and built a chamber that only the true heir could open."  
"What lies within the chamber, Professor?" asked Dean nervously.  
"It is said to be something terrible - a monster," said McGonagall. After a few moments of awkward silence, the class commenced, but the atmosphere of tension never really left.  
After class, Draco caught up with the trio.  
"Hey, Neville," he said. "Do you know who the heir is?"  
"No," said Neville. "Why would I?"  
"I think it's Harry Potter."  
"What makes you say that?"  
"He's a Slytherin, and he gets super nervous around anyone who's not a pure-blood. I think he's the heir."  
"But, Draco, that doesn't mean he's the heir, basically all the pure-bloods are Slyth-"  
But Draco was already halfway down the hallway, taking no notice. "I'm going to get Hermione, and then we can ask him."  
Neville sighed.  
Hermione was sitting studying for her Charms test the following day, and Draco raced to her side and shook her.  
"Hermione! Hermione!"  
"What?"  
"Come on, we have to ask Harry if he's the heir to the Chamber of Secrets!"  
"What?" asked Hermione. "Draco, I'm trying to study."  
"No, we have to ask Harry now," said Draco. "Are you coming or not?"  
Hermione reluctantly got up and followed Draco over to the table where Harry and Ron were sitting with Percival.  
"Harry, I have to ask you a question and it's really important," said Draco, practically bubbling over with excitement.  
Harry looked to Ron for help, but Ron only stared at Draco in confusion.  
"Are you the heir to the Chamber of Secrets?"  
Harry blinked. "I - I don't know. I don't think so..."  
"How can you not know?"  
"Draco, let's go," said Hermione. "Harry isn't the heir. If he was, he would know."  
She grabbed Draco and half-dragged him across the Great Hall and back to the table she was studying at. Fred and George had arrived there and were sitting also studying. When Hermione and Draco arrived at sat down, Fred looked up.  
"Hermione, have you seen Ginny?" he asked.  
"No, sorry," said Hermione. "Why?"  
"We've been worried about her," said Fred. "She hasn't turned up to the Revolution meetings in the Room of Requirement for a while, and she seems to have been avoiding us. Yesterday, I swore I saw her rushing up to her dormitory, crying, and I thought I saw blood on her robes, but when I went up to see her, she was just writing in her diary. Then I went down to breakfast and found out Hagrid's roosters had all been killed, and then that weird message appeared on the wall written in blood."  
"She also asked me if I was dating myself," Draco added. "That was pretty weird."  
"She explained that to you, though," said Hermione quickly. "She didn't know that the note was there." Then, she turned to Fred. "I'll look out for her, and if I think she's in trouble, I'll speak to her or tell you."  
"Thanks, Hermione," said Fred. "I'm sure everything's fine."  
Hermione hoped Fred was right, but secretly, she wasn't so sure. Could this have anything to do with the Chamber of Secrets.

Neville was worried. People had started being petrified a couple weeks back and it didn't look like it was going to stop. He sat alone in the infirmary Seamus next to him, unmoving. To top it all off he'd been hearing voices. He hadn't mentioned this to anyone of course, he didn't want to be labelled insane. But it was worrying. Everything was happening too fast.

When this had started everyone looked to Fred and George, the heroes. Neville had always admired them, they didn't have a prophecy and they'd never killed a dark lord like Neville but they just seemed impenetrable. They had immediately got to work and with Hermione's help figured out that the monster was a Basilisk and told everyone the proper precautions to take. However without a way into Salazar's chamber they couldn't directly do much.

With a sigh Neville stood, he better get back to the dorms. He was half way there when he heard a scream. Running to the source he found a group of people standing around a bloody sign on a bathroom wall.  
'HER BODY WILL LIE IN THE CHAMBER FOREVER'  
Neville turned to the twins for answers but they seemed lost.  
"Ginny" George choked out a whisper, unable to take his eyes off the bloody writing. Oh no. Please no. Neville was horrified, petrification could be cured. Dead could not. The door to the bathroom burst open and Gilderoy Lockheart, the strange and flamboyant defence teacher stood in the doorway.  
"Don't be afraid children, I Gilderoy Lockheart am here" he proclaimed.  
Nobody like Lockheart. He was clearly a fraud and just plain creepy. George had gotten detention with the man once for pointing out his fraudulent activities and came out not remembering a thing. Neville was pretty sure that whatever happened in that detention was probably illegal but whatever happened everyone had been avoiding him since.  
"Now! Whatever happened here!" He was still talking. He looked at the wall. Froze. Turned around and smiled.  
"Ha ha! Don't worry I've got this under control! Back to your dorm rooms!" Everyone left.  
Except Fred and George. Seeing them remain Neville stopped and moved back into the bathroom.  
"I said go back to your dorms! Go on! If you don't I'll have to give you a detention and I'm sure you don't want that!" he said it all with a smile, finishing in a condescending sing song tone staring at George who looked distinctly uncomfortable.  
'our sister's down there" Fred spoke calmly but his fists were balled at his side's. He stepped deliberately Infront of Neville and George. "Yes, yes I'll deal with this! After all what could you do! Your only children!" Neville was hating the man more by the second. He wanted to say something but was stopped by an overpowering urge. He stepped away toward a sink and hissed. The sink, much to Nevilles suprise opened. Gilderoy, Fred and George turned to him in shock. George was the first to recover. "Oh. Well done Nev. Let's go save Ginny" Calm and supportive he moved beside Neville and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Yeah let's go!" Fred joined in pushing past them both to peer down the hole before jumping in.

They all landed with a thud at the bottom of the chute. Lockheart included for some reason.  
Neville and Fred stood up and looked to see Lockheart on top of George, who was struggling to get free. Fred yanked Lockheart by the arm.  
"Get. Off. My. Brother" he growled. After assuring George was okay the continued on only stopping when they heard Lockheart's voice behind them.  
"Freeze"  
The trio turned slowly to meet Lockheart's wand pointed at Neville.

"Oh I have been wanting to do this since I met you. It's been fun really but this is goodbye. OBLIVIATE!" George just barely managed to push Neville out the way as the spell soared passed them bouncing off the wall behind them and hitting Lockheart square in the chest. they didn't get to see the after math however as the ceiling, disturbed by the spell, collapsed leaving Fred and Lockheart on one side and George and Neville on the other. "Hey are you okay!" Fred yelled. "Yes we're fine don't worry. You go back with Lockheart. We'll find Ginny" George replied. "Ugh ok! Don't mess this up!" The reply was accompanied by confused murmurs. "Um. George? What was that spell Lockheart used?" Neville inquired as they continued moving forward. "Memory eraser. Nasty thing." "Ok" Before long they reached a large room and saw Ginny collapsed on the ground with a strange young man standing over her.

"Ginny!" George immediately ran to her side. Neville chose to stay hidden, he wasn't an idiot this could get dangerous.  
"What did you do to her" George said clutching his little sister's body.  
"Oh! You must be George, the lesser of the twins. It's a pleasure. I've heard all about you" the strange young man replied seemingly unconcerned.  
"Wha-"  
"Shh. It's fine. I've been wanting to have a chat with you for ages. Ginny wrote all about you. You really are an amazing brother aren't you~"  
"Wrote? Her diary! What did you do?" George stared up at him.  
"Patience! So rude. I expected better, lesser. You didn't even ask my name!"  
"What's your name, then?" George ground out still holding his unresponsive sister tightly.  
"Tom Riddle. Or Lord Voldemort if you would prefer" he smirked coldly.  
"An anagram. I am Lord Voldemort. Smart" George commented refusing to meet Tom's eyes.  
"Why thank you. This is much more like it" he stepped closer to George tilting his head up with Ginny's wand.  
"What do you want" George asked ignoring the threat of the wand entirely.  
"Hmm. What do I want? My freedom, it's simple enough. My life for hers~"he pushed the wand so it was digging into George's neck. Apparently unhappy with the lack of response.  
"What! No! Don't hurt her! Please!" George begged, horrified. His sister couldn't die.  
"Oh I'm afraid that's impossible at this point lesser. However I want you to join me. After the transfer is complete I shall rule the wizarding world. You would make a good pet~" His smirk grew as he looked at Georges shocked face, he brushed his hand over George's hair to emphasize his point. "After you kill my sister? Never!" he spat.  
"I don't think you understand" he said wand still raised " I wasn't asking lesser"  
It was at this point Neville stepped out firing a cutting curse at Tom. It connects and Tom is shocked enough to allow George to move out the way grabbing Ginny's wand.  
"You insolent" he started before his voice changed "Basilisk! Arise!"  
There was a strange sound and a giant Basilisk rounded the corner.

Neville froze in fear. The Basilisk approached ominously, looming ever closer. It was Fred's cry that brought him to his senses.  
"Don't look it in the eye!"  
Neville whipped his head the other way, resisting the urge to look back.  
Suddenly, George gasped. "Fawkes!"  
Neville heard the phoenix's cry as it attacked the snake, which shrieked. Neville clamped his hands over his ears. The shrill sound was awful.  
"No!" cried Tom. "Your bird may have blinded the Basilisk, but it can still hear you."  
Suddenly, Neville had an idea. He shouted to George "Get to Ginny! I think I can take care of the Basilisk."  
"But you're not safe!"  
Neville ignored him and sprinted off in the other direction, his footsteps echoing and splashing through the water on the flagstone floor. He looked behind to see the Basilisk. Where its eyes should have been, there were two bloody holes in its head. At least the imminent threat of death was gone. Sort of.  
He led the Basilisk through a maze of corridors until he reached some iron bars blocking him from getting through. He spun around. The Basilisk was too close. There was no way he could slip around it. He was done for. He should have let George take this thing on. He looked around, frantically, trying not to make a sound, for anything that he could use, but all he could see was the stones at his feet.  
The stones... He picked one up and threw it to the side of the Basilisk. It clattered to the ground next to it. Holding his breath, Neville watched in horror as the thing retreated and left him panting, leaning against the iron bars.  
He raced back to find George and Ginny as quickly as it could.  
"How is she?" he asked, flopping down onto his knees beside her.  
"She's getting weaker," said George. "We have to destroy the diary somehow. Fawkes left the sorting hat and a sword, but you were already gone by the time I noticed,".  
Neville took the sword, and not a moment too soon. He whirled around to see the giant snake coming closer. He knew that if he wanted to defeat it, he needed to get higher. He climbed up the stone structure, his hands slipping and his feet struggling to find ledges. The Basilisk swiped its huge head at him, knocking the sword out of his hand, and he fell over. Pain shot up through his head, and the coppery taste of blood rose at the back of his throat. He groaned, swallowed, and forced himself to his feet. Reaching for the sword, he had to dodge another attack and finally grabbed it. He mustered all his strength, and when the Basilisk next attacked a few moments later, he forced the sword up through the roof of its mouth.  
It screamed, making Neville's ears ring, and the pain in his arm was almost unbearable as one of its poisonous fangs cut deep into his arm. The Basilisk finally fell over, presumably dead, and Neville scrambled down the structure to Fred, George and Ginny.  
"Neville!" cried George. "Are you okay?"  
Neville tried to nod, but the Basilisk's venom was starting to spread throughout his body, the pain slowly creeping all over.  
"Where's Fawkes?" asked George. "Phoenix tears have healing powers."  
As if on cue, Fawkes appeared, and landed on Neville's arm, one by one, the tears dripped onto the wound, blissfully cool, and Neville found he was able to rise to his feet.  
Tom laughed an evil laugh. "Ginny is almost dead," he taunted.  
Then Neville had an idea. He grabbed the diary and drove the Basilisk fang into its cover. If this wouldn't destroy it, then nothing would. Tom shrieked as he slowly disintegrated and sort of evaporated away. Almost immediately, Ginny opened her eyes, sucking in a loud breath.  
George, overjoyed, pulled his sister into a hug. Neville smiled in his relief. He could barely believe they had managed to do it. He had beaten the Dark Lord again.


	20. An Animagus in Azkaban

20th June 1993

It had been too long since the marauders had last visited Fred and George. They sat in the dungeon alone bruised and bloodied. Maybe they had abandoned them. The thought crept into George's mind before he could stop it. They're not going to come back. Why would they he is a pathetic burden. He's all alone and it's his fault. George curled in on himself, ignoring Fred's concerned look. He didn't deserve that care. He-

Before he could finish that thought Pettigrew arrived.  
"Sorry I'm so late! A lot has been going on. I'll explain when we get to the house."  
With that they were back in that stupid bag. George almost welcomed the harshness as they were unceremoniously dumped into the floor. They looked up at three familiar faces. "Where's Sirius?" Fred was the first to speak, questioning the whereabouts of his favourite marauder. "Well that's the thing" Remus replied looking tired and guilt ridden "he's in Azkaban" "The prison?" George questioned. "Exactly. Turns out you can't hide being an illegal Animagus forever. Unless you're me or Peter because I'm awesome and peters the most unsuspectable person in existence" James chipped in looking as tired as Remus. "He's in prison because he's an illegal Animagus? Isn't that a bit extreme?" "Yeah we thought so too. Apparently he's the only one stopping the Malfoys getting the Black fortune so they bribed the minister into putting him in jail." James said. "They what?" Fred boiled with anger fists clenching "Well let's break him out" Fred's statement shocked the group their faces all turning to him. "I mean we have an invisibility cloak and a Warhammer so it shouldn't be that hard" "Fred it's a maximum security prison. You'd lose your soul if you even tried it." Remus said "Oh okay, sorry" Fred conceded. They spent the rest of the day discussing other plans before Fred and George were returned 'home'. "So" George began "we're going to break him out right?" "Oh yeah totally. We can't just leave him there" Fred responded stretching with a sigh. "Tomorrow?" "Tomorrow" 

The next day the duo rushed to do their chores, careful to direct the Malfoys away from placing them back in the dungeon. They ended their day with a couple of burns and a nasty cut. Overall not bad. As darkness fell they enacted their plan. Grabbing the Warhammer and dawning the invisibility cloak that made their way to the floo. Grabbing a pinch of powder Fred whispered Azkaban and they stepped through. Pulling the cloak tighter around them they hurried to a corner as an alarm blared. Five guards burst in the room looking around. One cast a spell before turning to the others. "No-one here. Must have been a false alarm" "You sure?" "Even if I'm wrong the dementors will get them" "Ok whatever" The twins followed the guards out of the room and started searching. They passed a couple of dementors on the way and George wasn't sure he would ever be warm again. Finally they found Sirius's cell. "Hey Sirius" Fred whispered catching the man's attention. "We're here to save you"

"What? Fred? Great now I'm hearing voices"  
"No it's me" Fred said pulling down the cloak to reveal his head.  
"We're going to get you out" George said pulling out the keys he had stolen from the guards.  
"How do you plan to get us out?" Sirius questioned.  
Fred pulled out a familiar bag " we borrowed this from Peter"  
So the boys put Sirius in the bag of holding and made their way back out. It seemed too easy but they would take what they could get. They went with Sirius back to James's house.  
"I can't believe you two actually did that!" James said in disbelief.  
"What are you going to now Sirius? You can't stay here you're going to be a wanted criminal" Remus questioned relieved his best friend had returned but concerned about their next moves.  
"Well I was thinking Mexico. I'd have to go the Muggle way but it'd be fun. You should come too Mooney!" Sirius replied.  
"I would but I already agreed to be the defence professor this year. Apparently the last one mysteriously lost all his memories."  
"That was our fault. Also you are? Why didn't you tell us?" Fred replied  
"How was it your-? You know what nevermind. I was going to say but we were all so caught up in the Sirius situation I forgot" Remus said exasperated.  
"Next year's going to be great!" Fred smiled.

"Oh yeah," said George. "By the way, Colin Creevey gave us these pictures ages ago. He took them at a Death Eater meeting at Malfoy Manor." He reached into his pocket and pulled them out. He felt Peter stiffen beside him, but didn't think anything of it.  
"You got them printed?" said Fred. "Why didn't you tell me?"  
"Colin asked me to keep it a secret until I could find the Marauders," said George. "He printed them."  
"You could have at least told your twin brother!" Fred fumed. "Also, you've just been keeping them on you? That's stupid."  
George didn't reply; he didn't want to make things worse. But, right now, he was feeling very happy that he had kept the pictures on his person. He gave them to Remus.  
"We managed to identify almost all of them," said Fred. "But not all."  
Remus flicked through the pictures. "I must admit, I have never seen most of them before myself."  
"That's because you haven't spent your life making them all cups of coffee," said Fred bitterly.  
Remus opened his mouth to reply, but he suddenly stopped, staring down, wide-eyed, at one of the pictures.  
"What is it?" asked Sirius.  
James went over to Remus' side, craned to look over his shoulder, and had a similar reaction.  
"Is that..." he said. "Is that Peter?"  
"Peter?" asked Fred. "Pettigrew?"  
"Yes, Peter Pettigrew," said Sirius, coming over to see the picture for himself. "I believe it is."  
"He's a Death Eater?" asked Remus quietly, his eyes full of hurt and betrayal.  
"I've never seen him at a Death Eater meeting before," said George thoughtfully. "Maybe this was his first one. Maybe he's a recent recruit."  
"Speaking of Peter," said George, looking around. "Where is he?"  
Everyone looked across the room.  
"He's left," said Remus. "Did you see him leave?"  
"No," said Fred. "But I don't remember him being a very big part of that conversation, either. He must have slipped out as soon as George pulled the pictures out of his pocket and he realised what they were."  
"Woah, woah, woah," said James. "Wait a second. How do we even know he's a Death Eater? He could be doing spy stuff or something."  
"Let's face it James," said Remus. "He's not got the guts to do that."  
James shrugged. "I suppose he wouldn't have had any reason to leave if he could have explained."  
"Exactly," said Remus.  
"Yeah," said Sirius, his voice raised in anger. "And if he was spying on the Dark Lord he would have TOLD US! Like, you know, we're only his BEST FRIENDS!"  
He grabbed his broom and stormed to the doorway. "Dang you, Peter Pettigrew!" he yelled. "When my name is cleared, I'm going to come back from Mexico, and I'm going to find you, and then I'm going to get Fred to attack you with his Warhammer!"  
With that, he flew off into the sky, leaving the others in a stunned silence behind him.


	21. Dementors, Explosions and Deep, Deep Hatred

September 1st 1993

George sighed and looked out the window of the Hogwarts Express. He had a feeling that this was going to be an exhausting year for everyone - not only did they have to continue organising the Revolution whilst keeping it a secret and looking out for all of the younger students, they also had to study hard for their OWLs and make sure that the Ministry didn't find Sirius. He had gone off to Mexico, as he had announced at his... rather eccentric departure, but George strongly suspected that he might find it difficult to get there, as he couldn't apparate (because then the Ministry would be able to track his spells) and he didn't know how Muggle airports worked.  
George lurched forwards slightly in his seat as the train stopped and pulled into the station. He and Fred gathered their belongings and clambered onto the platform with the rest of the students. There were several new first years, looking dazed and following Hagrid, but nobody who they knew particularly well (although they had looked after almost all of them at some point).  
The Sorting Ceremony was nothing out of the ordinary: there were no new additions to Ravenclaw or Gryffindor, whilst Hufflepuff and Slytherin took on all of the new students between them.  
Afterwards, Professor Dumbledore got up to give the customary welcome speech.  
"Welcome students of Hogwarts," he said. "New and old. It is with great regrets that I inform you that, in order to keep the castle safe at this time, there will be Dementors patrolling the grounds."  
A whisper rose up within the Great Hall, and Dumbledore raised a hand to reinforce the silence.  
"As long as you do not go looking for the Dementors, you shall be safe. I must ask you to give them no reason to harm you. And now, enjoy the feast."  
"He's even more nuts than he was last year," said Roger Davies from across the table. "Dementors? Seriously?"  
"He's only trying to keep us safe," said George, although he was aware that Dumbledore was, indeed, a bit delusional.

Hermione was also greatly looking forward to the new school year. She was able to choose her own subjects this year, and, not wanting to miss out on any cool new classes, she signed up for all of them. However, to her horror, when she received her new timetable, she realised that she had overbooked herself and that some of her classes were at the same time as each other!  
"I've got the same problem," said Seamus when she told him about it. "So does Harry Potter in Slytherin."  
"Harry Potter?" Hermione repeated. "Why has he picked so many subjects?"  
"My guess is so that he has an excuse not to be around other people," said Seamus, and Hermione thought he was probably right.  
That was when Professor Sprout approached and presented both Hermione and Seamus with a time-turner each.  
"This is so you can attend all of your classes," she explained. "But you must promise to use it for your classes. And ONLY for your classes."  
"Yes, Professor," said Hermione quickly.  
"These are very dangerous objects," said Professor Sprout. "And they cannot be misused. We have only entrusted three students with them."  
Seamus and Hermione promised not to misuse them about eight more times before Professor Sprout finally left them alone.

The next morning, Fred was awake bright and early. After shaking George awake, they decided to go and grab some breakfast early before setting off to their first class: Potions. Secretly, George would rather have had any other class first thing on a Monday morning, but it couldn't be helped.  
"This is a very important year for you all," said Professor Snape upon entering the classroom. "This is the year that will determine whether you are permitted to carry on with Potions next year and take it on to NEWT level in your seventh year. Today we will be learning how to brew the Draught of Peace. This is a tricky potion which will be assessed at OWL level at the end of the school year, so I expect you all to be studying very hard. Now, Mr Weasley" he pointed at George. "Tell me what is in a Draught of Peace."  
"But, sir, we haven't even learnt it yet," George protested.  
Snape tutted. "Not opened a book all summer, I see. Good luck with passing your exams, Weasley." George went red and several Slytherins around the classroom laughed. It wasn't exactly like he could tell Snape that he had barely had a minute to look through his textbooks because he was so busy planning a Revolution, doing chores around the Malfoy Manor, and babysitting younger witches and wizards, was it?  
"Does anyone else know the answer?" said Snape. When nobody stirred, he said. "Well, you had better copy this down. The ingredients are powdered unicorn horn, powdered porcupine quills, powdered moonstone and syrup of hellebore."  
Furiously scribbling, George resolved to have these ingredients, as well as their quantities and the technique needed to make the potion memorised by their next class.

The second class was the third year's turn to have Potions, and their class wasn't much better than Fred and George's had been before them. Snape spent the entire lesson criticising Ron and Neville on their technique whilst brewing a Confusing Concoction. First, Ron put in too much scurvy grass, and then Neville forgot to add the sneezewort before taking his cauldron off the heat. Harry hadn't done anything wrong in particular, but Snape said that his potion was worse than even James Potter's would have been. Draco was the only person other than Hermione who managed to brew the potion correctly - something which he took great delight in - but Seamus (who was sitting next to him) accidentally exploded yet another cauldron by turning the heat up way too high.  
"Five points from Hufflepuff for your stupidity, Mr Finnigan," said Snape, snarling. Seamus bowed his head in shame. "And you, Draco, you should have told him not to. Five points from Gryffindor, as well."  
Draco's mouth fell open in horror. "But, sir," he said. "I was concentrating on my own potion. See?"  
"Silence!" Snape thundered. "Before I make it ten points."  
Draco sighed. Sometimes he wished he had a Gryffindor buddy to help him out when it came to gaining House Points. He didn't see how he was supposed to gain more by himself than half the school put together.


	22. 'Parry Hotter' the Hufflepuff

September 15th 1993

This was a terrible idea. Harry knew this was a terrible idea from the beginning. Unfortunately, Harry had an inherent inability to say no to Ron. So here he was brown hair and cobalt eyes with probably the stupidest fake name in history breaking into Hufflepuff dorms. Like the Hufflepuffs were hiding their deepest secrets here. 

He took a breath as he stepped in, Slytherins were sneaky, he could do this. He moved into the crowd of people and felt a sense of relief, there were so many people here there was no way anyone would notice him.  
"Hey. I haven't seen you before. Who are you?" A voice sounded behind him, immediately crushing any hope of anonymity.  
"I- Uh. Barry Hotter?" Harry turned stiffly. That was much more of a question than he would have liked.  
"Oh well sorry about that Barry! I'm Cedric. Sorry I didn't know you. It's not like I'm George, it's near impossible to keep track of everything. But you know-" Cedric rambled practically pulling Harry along as he spoke.

However Harry stopped listening. That worked. He couldn't believe it. Ok so only George knew everyone. Got it. Oh he should probably be listening. Being a spy and everything.  
"So anyway how are you doing in your studies? What subjects are you taking? Do you need any help? Do you like it here? What-"  
"Ced slow down your freaking out the kid" Thank goodness someone interrupted that. He turned to see another guy about the same age as Fred.  
"Oh Lee hi I didn't see you there" 

The two started chatting and Harry took the opportunity to escape knowing no more than when he entered but deciding he wasn't a fan of the Hufflepuff dorms. He knew that this had been a bad plan

November 16th 1993

Harry had been going back almost every day to the Hufflepuff Common Room, under Ron's request, of course - he would never do such a thing of his own accord. He was just returning from one such trip and flopped down on a sofa in the Slytherin Common Room next to Ron.  
"Hey, Harry, by the way, when was the last time that you gave Ginny a love potion?" he asked.  
"Uh..." Harry didn't want to lie but was afraid at how Ron would react when he learned the truth. Eventually, he decided he'd better tell the truth. "Ages ago. I've stopped."  
"You what?" said Ron. "Why?"  
"I didn't want to do it," said Harry.  
"Harry!" said Ron, half-shouting at this point. "You stopped giving a love potion to Ginny Weasley?"  
Harry didn't reply, realising that they had attracted a large crowd.

The next morning, Harry learned that his worst nightmare had come true. The rumour that Harry Potter had been giving Ginny Weasley a love potion had leaked out, and Ginny had, naturally, been one of the first to be told. She approached Harry the next morning at breakfast and stood above him with her arms folded around the books she was carrying.  
"You gave me a love potion?" she thundered.  
Harry wanted to explain that Ron had made him do it, but his voice seemed to be caught in his throat. Besides, he didn't really want to betray long like that. After far too long, he managed a weak "I'm sorry."  
Ginny let out a cry of fury and smacked Harry over the head with her books. She was reading 'Quidditch Through the Ages' and 'Standard Book of Spells: Grade Two'.  
"Ow," said Harry quietly.  
"Never speak to me again," said Ginny. "I thought you were my friend, Harry Potter." And with that, she stormed off.  
"I think she overreacted a bit," said Ron. "But you still should have listened to me."  
Harry stared down at the rest of his breakfast, suddenly not very hungry anymore. Ron knew best. Now he'd upset Ginny.


	23. Of Class and Creatures

December 15th 1993

"Come on, come on, come on!" Draco grabbed Hermione's sleeve and practically pulled her along to Care of Magical Creatures Class. "I can't wait to see what Creatures we're going to meet today. Maybe we'll meet Fire Crabs or Cornish Pixies or Doxies or Fire Crabs!"  
"You already said Fire Crabs," said Hermione, who was, by now, quite breathless from the sheer speed that Draco had been keeping with to get there.  
"That's because Fire Crabs are awesome," said Draco.  
They had arrived at the class and Draco finally was quiet so they could listen to Hagrid.  
"Righ' class," he said. "Listen up, now, please. Today, we're goin' to have a Christmas competition!"  
Draco clapped his hands in delight and then coloured as every pair of eyes in the class turned to him.  
"We are goin' to see who can find the most exotic creature on Hogwarts grounds by next class," said Hagrid.  
"Next class?" Hermione repeated. "But's that's tomorrow!"  
"It's a good challenge," said Draco. "Besides, we can pair up and I can help you find yours. Oh, we can ask Luna Lovegood to join, too!"  
"Draco, she's not even in our class."  
"She'd love to join," said Draco. "I know she would."  
Groaning inwardly, Hermione agreed to pair up with Draco.

"First place to start," he said. "Is the Forbidden Forest."  
"Draco," Hermione was anxious. "I'm not sure that's such a good idea..."  
"Don't be silly," he waved her off. "I think that it's a great idea."  
It didn't take long enough for Hermione's liking to get to the Slytherin Common Room and collect Luna. Hermione suspected Draco only liked her because she was the only Slytherin who wasn't mean to him. Luna seemed about as keen on going into the Forest as Hermione felt, but they allowed Draco to drag them along anyway; he wasn't giving them much of a choice.  
"Ooh," he said. "Look. A trail of spiders. Let's follow it."  
"Yeah," said Hermione sarcastically. "Great idea."  
But Draco took no notice, and they followed the trail deeper and deeper into the forest.  
After about ten minutes of walking, they arrived at what looked to Hermione like a spider's lair.  
"Draco," she whispered. "Let's go."  
But Draco ignored her. "Look, the spiders are getting bigger. Let's go take one. That can be your animal, Luna."  
"Okay," Luna looked quite pale.  
"Who goes there?" said a loud, deep voice.  
"My name is Draco Malfoy," said Draco. "And these are my friends, Hermione Granger and Luna Lovegood. We're here to collect a spider for Hagrid."  
"You know Hagrid?"  
"Well, yes," said Draco. "Everybody knows Hagrid. Anyway, can we have a spider?"  
"I eat trespassers," said the voice, and a giant spider emerged from the lair. Hermione screamed.  
"Shut up, Hermione," said Draco. "We're not trespassers. We're friends of Hagrid's. We just want a spider."  
The spider looked as if it was about to say more, but Draco took one of them, and it hissed.  
"RUN!" yelled Luna.  
Hermione grabbed Draco by the hem of his robes and forced him along after Luna, who was already shooting towards the clearing. She racked her brains to try and think of any spells she knew. Aha! She'd thought of one.  
"Draco, move aside!" she yelled. Draco dodged around her, and she pointed her wands at the spider and yelled. "Arania Exumai!"  
One of the spiders blasted back. She cast the spell a few more times, buying them a few minutes, and then bolted for the clearing, where she knew the spiders wouldn't dare follow them. Panting, she reached Draco and Luna and was relieved to realise that they were safe.  
Draco handed Luna the acromantula. "Here you go. Now to the third-floor corridor."

They arrived in the corridor, and Hermione cast Alohomora to open the door. Fluffy immediately started barking, but Hermione was quick to cast a spell on the harp to make it continue playing on its own.  
Draco pointed his wand at Fluffy. "Wingardium Leviosa," he said.  
"What are you doing?" Hermione hissed.  
"I'm going to keep him in the Gryffindor Common Room," said Draco. "Would you mind bringing the harp?"  
Luna lifted up the harp, but Hermione was angry. "Are you crazy? He'll maul you in your sleep."  
"Don't be silly," said Draco. "He's just a big fluffy good boy."  
Hermione rolled her eyes, but, seeing that Draco wasn't going to see sense, she gave up. Once they were sure that Fluffy was in the Common Room asleep, and the harp was not going to continue playing, they left.  
"You still need an animal, Hermione," said Draco.  
"I think I can find one on my own, thanks," said Hermione.  
"Don't be silly," said Draco. "We can ask Albert."  
"Who?"  
"Don't you remember Albert? The Sorting Hat?"  
Hermione insisted that they go up to the Gryffindor Dormitories to ask the Sorting Hat for an animal.  
"Well, Albert," said Draco. "Can you give us an animal?"  
The Sorting Hat didn't move.  
"Draco, I'll get an animal on my own. Really, it's fine."  
"No, it's not," said Draco. "You're going to get an animal."  
It took some coaxing, but, eventually, a giant bird flew out of the hat, swooping over their heads.  
"A phoenix," said Hermione.  
Draco had never been happier. An acromantula, a giant, three-headed dog, and a phoenix. Hagrid was going to be so impressed with him at their next Care of Magical Creatures Class.


	24. A revolution with Remus

Fred and George stood infront of the door to Remus's office, this would be the first proper talk they had since Remus started as a professor. It was hard having to hide that they knew him. Fred was the one who knocked waiting for a reply before stepping in.  
"Come in" Remus called barely looking up from the papers he was grading.  
"Um. Professor, it's us" George fidgeted unsure of how he was supposed to act.  
"Oh! Boys sorry I didn't see you there. No need to call me professor when we're not in class, George. Remus is fine"  
"Told you" Fred whispered nudging him slightly causing George to flinch.  
"Ok Remus we have something to ask you" George continued moving further into the classroom.  
"Yes?"  
"Well you know how there are dementors around. We were wondering if you could teach us how to defend ourselves against them. So we can teach the others." Fred explained, he refused to meet Remus's eye as he did so. He hated asking for things. It made him feel greedy and weak.  
"Why don't I just teach all of you"  
"We didn't think of that" George admitted shuffling slightly, " that would probably be easier"

So later the next day Remus met up with the larger than expected group looking to learn. Despite the sheer size the group worked marvellously helping each other. He showed off his own patronus, a wolf. He watched and noted the others patronouses, Fred had a Horse,  
George an Otter, Neville a Hare, Dean a Stag that reminded him so much of James, Seamus a Fox, Draco a Buffalo, Ginny a Crow, Luna a Seal, and Hermione a Lioness. Draco and Luna had not been invited but had somehow found out and came anyway.

Painfully Remus noted how weak the majority of the patronouses were with Draco's being the most powerful by far. The others just didn't have happy enough memories to power the spell. Only the small group he mentioned managed to get their patronous to take shape. Still it was a success. Maybe he could work on teaching them more defensive spells in the future. To protect them.

July, 1st 1994

After an exhausting year, Fred and George clambered back on to the Hogwarts Express to make their way back to the Malfoy Manor. They could only hope that their OWLs had gone okay. It also hadn't taken long for many of the students to realise that this was the year of the Quidditch World Cup. Many of the pure-bloods had received letters from the Malfoys telling them that they had bought tickets to the final - whoever was going to be playing, and Remus had kindly bought some tickets for Fred and George.  
"I hope I did okay in my exams," said George. "I know I did pretty good in Care of Magical Creatures."  
"I probably failed my Care of Magical Creatures," said George. "But I'm quite confident in my Charms. I'm hoping for an Exceeds Expectations in that one - maybe even an Outstanding."  
"Im Sur you did fine stop panicking," said Fred exasperated, "Besides, we have loads to teach the younger students this summer, don't we? I'm sure that will take our minds off of things."  
"Not to mention all the housework and Baby-Keeping that Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy will want us to do," said Fred. "That'll take up all o our time if nothing else does."  
They sat together for a while discussing what they would teach the younger witches and wizards over the summer. Patronuses, obviously, as well as some of the more defensive spells that Lupin had taught them: spells such as Protego and Episkey would no doubt come in very useful.


	25. Quidditch Conundrum

August 20th 1994

Finally, it had arrived. The day that everybody had been waiting for. The Quidditch World Cup Final. This year, it was between Ireland and Bulgaria, and one of the most famous Quidditch players in the world, Viktor Krum, was to be playing on the Quidditch pitch. The Malfoys and the purebloods had had their tickets for ages.  
"This house had better be cleaned from top to bottom while I'm away," said Lucius Malfoy before they left. "And woe betide you if it isn't!"  
However, what Lucius Malfoy didn't know was that Fred and George also had tickets to the Quidditch World Cup Final. Mooney had gotten them tickets and was planning to sneak them away in secret. They were seated in the most remote area, where the Malfoys hopefully wouldn't be able to see them. But they kind of had an advantage in that way because the Malfoys weren't exactly going to be looking for them, so neither of the boys was too worried.  
"Hey, George," said Fred. "I'll bet you two silver sickles that Bulgaria win."  
"You're on," said George. "I bet that Krum will catch the snitch, but Ireland will win."  
"What?" said Fred. "That's ridiculous! Krum would never do that if Ireland were more than 150 points ahead! I'm totally gonna win this bet!"  
George only shrugged, wondering who would win the bet if Ireland caught the snitch. "Then that's good for you, isn't it?"  
They snuck down to the dungeons where Mooney was waiting for them.  
"Are you ready, boys?" he asked.  
They nodded eagerly, and, each taking one of Mooney's hands, they were whisked away with him to the Quidditch pitch. Mooney allowed them both to buy a badge before they found their seats.  
The Quidditch game kicked off, and from there on out it was all zooming broomsticks and flying Quaffles, as Ireland scored goal after goal after goal. The Irish were going wild. Bulgaria scored only one goal, and, before long, the score was 170-10.  
"If Krum catches the snitch now," muttered George under his breath. "You owe me two sickles."  
"Don't be stupid," said Fred. "Krum isn't going to catch the snitch now. He'll have to wait until Bulgaria score more goals."  
That is, if they scored more goals, George thought.  
But then, a strange thing happened. Krum emerged from a cluster of broomsticks with the golden snitch in his hands. George burst out laughing and looked triumphantly to Fred, whose expression was something of a mixture of disbelief and disappointment. Ireland had won 170-160, yet Krum had caught the snitch.  
George opened his mouth to tell Fred that he owed him two sickles, but just then there was a shout and a lot of screaming as people began panicking and running for the exit. Fred looked up to Mooney, his eyes wide with fear.  
"What was that?" he asked.  
"I'm sure it was just someone upset about the score..." said Mooney, but neither he nor the twins felt convinced.  
They hurried to the exit where they joined the end of a screaming queue of witches and wizards, all flustered and scared. Fred gripped George's hand in an attempt to stay calm. What if the Malfoys had already apparated back to the Manor and found them missing? No, there was no way that just two adults could apparate all those children back at once...  
Then a loud voice yelled, "MORSMORDRE!" and people screamed as a neon green skull with a snake coming out of it appeared in the sky.  
"Death Eaters..." whispered Mooney, looking up to the sky in horror. Fred swore he had tears glistening in his eyes.  
"What?!" said Fred. "Did you say... Death Eaters? Mr Lupin, what's going on?"  
"That's You-Know-Who's mark, Fred," said Mooney. "It must have been cast by one of his followers."  
George felt ready to throw up. "Can we go now?"  
"Take my hands," said Mooney. "Quickly!"  
Fred and George took a hand each, and Mooney apparated back to the dungeons of the Malfoy Manor. Fred opened his mouth to shakily thank Mooney, but he was already gone. He stared at George in disbelief, the two silver sickles long since forgotten. After a few minutes struck dumb in an eerie silence, George said finally,  
"Come on. We'd better make sure the Manor is clean."


	26. The Triwizard Tournament

September 1st 1994

Surprisingly the twins had managed to get away with going to the quidditch game. They had later learned that the death eater symbol was attributed to a house elf of all things. Which Fred thought was stupid. They were lucky there weren't going to be any dementors this year. They had no clue why they had even been there in the first place. Unfortunately the dementors weren't the only thing not returning. Mooney was forced to quit after the Malfoys had found out he was a werewolf. The twins had no clue who was replacing him but hoped it was someone at least semi competent.

The Hogwarts express pulled into the station and everyone filed into the carriages. Fred gave the horse like thing a pat before getting on while George avoided it like the plague, he was terrible with normal animals let alone whatever that was.

They sat in the hall watching the first years get sorted. Then McGonagall took the stage to make an announcement.  
"Students I am proud to announce that this year Hogwarts will be hosting the Triwizard tournament"  
"I thought that was stopped centuries ago because of health risks" whispered George nudging his brother slightly  
"It was"  
"Now this version of the tournament will have safety measures in place, for example an age line to stop underage pupils from being chosen"  
"Ok good so we're safe" George whispered to himself happily, he had enough on his plate already and this was definitely the type of thing Fred would drag him into.

"We will be joined by the Bulgarian school Durmstrang and the French school Beubouxtons, they will be arriving tomorrow "  
"Well," Fred said as they went to eat, " this'll be interesting"


	27. The Goblet of Fire

31st October 1994

The other schools had arrived to much fanfare but George didn't really see the appeal. Some people from France and Bulgaria were staying for a while, big deal. The French students were staying Ravenclaw with the Bulgarian ones in Gryffindor as they were the two least populated houses. It was rather annoying having so many people about, made it so much harder to move around undetected. He and Fred had been hiding out in their dorm for the most part. 

He exited his dorm Fred behind him and quickly made their way to the Great hall. today was the day the competitors would be announced for the Triwizard tournament. He sat at the table and picked at his food. Looking around the table he spotted Rodger gawking at one of the French girls, Fleur. He'd been doing that since shed arrived, had raved about the beautiful girls to them for a while. George didn't see the appeal. Sure he guessed they looked nice but staring seemed a bit much.

Breakfast ended and everyone sat waiting for the announcement. It started off as expected Fleur's name was pulled out, then Krum's. Then  
"Neville Malfoy"  
George's head shot round to a ghostly pale Neville. This clearly wasn't intentional on his part. George was so worried about Neville he didn't notice another piece of paper fly out of the goblet.  
"Fred and George"  
"Yes sir" Fred asked confused.  
"Your names came out of the goblet all three of you go through to the contestants room" Dumbledore replied.

Confused the trio went through to the room. The others looked confused and Fred quickly explained that something went wrong with the cup as it had called out three names for Hogwarts and none of them were eligible, nor did they put their names in. He was sure this would be sorted out fast.

It wasn't going to be sorted out. The adults insisted they compete despite their protests. George was starting to panic. The tournament was dangerous and he wasn't sure if any of them would be able to survive the tasks.


	28. The First Task

Every inch of George was trembling. Their first task was dragons! George had never fought off a dragon before, nor did he ever want to, but here he was. At least he and Fred were allowed to work together on it. They had been treated as one contestant since they had technically come out of the Goblet on the same slip of paper.  
"Gather round, contestants," shouted Ludo Bagman, one of the people running the tournament. "You are all required to pick which breed of dragon you will be fighting from this bag." He turned to Fleur Delacour. "Ladies first."  
Fleur stretched a shaking hand into the bag and pulled out a tiny, moving, fire-breathing figure of a dragon.  
"Ah," breathed Bagman, looking excited. George thought he had no right to be excited; after all, he wasn't the one about to fight off a dragon. "The Common Welsh Green." He turned to Viktor Krum, who seemed to be the most collected of all the champions, and pulled out another dragon.  
Bagman let out a low whistle. "The Norwegian Ridgeback."  
Krum didn't look afraid. In fact, he only blinked. Neville was next, and he, wide-eyed and terrified, pulled out a Swedish Short-Snout.  
"Which leaves," said Bagman ominously, turning to Fred, who pulled out the last, and by far the most scary-looking dragon. "The Hungarian Horntail."  
"Keep the dragon distracted. When I give you the signal," Fred whispered to George. "I want you to muster up all your strength and cast the strongest stun that you can. Hopefully, we can stun it just long enough for me to slip in and grab the golden egg."  
George nodded hysterically.  
Fred and George waited and waited. Fleur came back from her Common Welsh Green with a nasty cut on one arm, and a large golden egg clutched in the other. Krum escaped practically unscathed, although he did take a lot longer to retrieve the egg. Neville only barely managed to get the egg, and came back with his eyebrows singed off and nasty burns all over his body. Finally, it was the twins' turn.  
The Hungarian Horntail was staring Fred down, who was already beginning to edge along the side of the arena closer to where it kept its eggs. George couldn't think how to distract the dragon. He tried everything he could think of: Diffindo, Petrificus Totalus (not that his spell was strong enough to do anything), even Expelliarmus, but nothing worked. Then he had an idea. He pointed his wand upwards and cried, "VERMILLIOUS!"  
Immediately, red sparks shot up into the air, and George ducked and the Horntail roared and breathed fire in the direction of the sparks. The crowd gasped and George saw Fred's relieved face as he emerged from the ashes, coughing and spluttering.  
He cast another bout of red sparks, a litter farther away from his person this time, and then looked to Fred, who was oh-so-slowly growing nearer to the egg. He cast some more red sparks, which allowed Fred to sprint very close to the nest as yell, "NOW!"  
George pointed his wand at the dragon, focused all his concentration on it, and he and Fred both roared, "STUPEFY!"  
The Horntail must only have been stunned for a couple of seconds, if that, but it was enough for Fred to grab the egg and sprint back down the arena. However, now they had another problem: the dragon was now breathing fire at Fred, who ducked behind a rock for safety, barely missing a huge mass of fire headed his way. George managed to edge around to the rock and flop down next to Fred.  
"When the dragon stops attacking us for a moment," he panted. "Run with the egg. I'll cast Protego."  
Fred nodded, and as soon as the Horntail stopped for breath, they seized their chance and Fred bolted towards the champions' tent with the egg, and George appeared over the top of the rock and yelled, "PROTEGO!"  
The dragon's fire deflected a little bit, but his shield was nowhere near strong enough. Once he was sure Fred was in the clear, the burns became too much for him and he listened to the shouts from the dragon-trainers as they tried to get the Horntail under control, which grew ever quieter as he drifted into unconsciousness.


	29. The Yule Ball

25 December 1994

The Yule Ball was today and George was dreading it. He didn't want to go but the teachers had insisted. This had prompted Fred to look up the Yule Ball realise it wasn't usually mandatory and start to speculate.  
"If it's not usually mandatory why would they force us to go? They also seemed very insistent we bring a partner. This doesn't make sense" Fred paced around the dorm.  
"Well the in the next task they're supposed to take something precious from us right? Maybe it's a person. They might be using the ball to give themselves options about who to take" George replied eyes following his brother as sat on the bed.  
"I think they're planning to use our Yule dates in the next task!" Fred pretended to ignore George as he continued.  
But I was the one who-"  
"What was that?" Fred snapped  
"Nothing" George conceded looking away.  
"Ok so I have a plan. Your going to dress like a girl and we're going together that way they can't use this against us"  
"What no!" George became flustered at the idea. It would be so embarrassing.  
"Oh I'm sorry. Are you doubting my plan?" George hated the look his brother shot him. He felt trapped under it. After a moment of fidgeting George was forced to reply still refusing eye contact.  
"Sorry. Your right" Fred always got what he wanted when it was just the two of them.

That was how he got into his current situation. dolled up in floor length lilac dress and a bit of glamour to make sure nobody knew it was him. They'd gotten Flitwick to agree that Fred could attend without George if he had a date.  
"You look beautiful" Fred laughed  
""Shut up" George stared at his feet bright red. He still thought this plan was stupid but any criticism was quickly shut down.

They went down to the Great hall where the Ball was being held. George looked at the other contestants, Neville had Luna on his arm and Krum had Hermione with him. They both looked wonderful. Then there was Fleur, she looked as nice as ever but it was ruined by her date, Rodger, drooling over her. Rodger looked around himself and the two made eye contact and George quickly looked away. The first dance went quite well, they were both quick on their feet and had picked up dancing rather quickly.

At the end of the dance fred went to get drinks as George waited away from the crowds still spinning about the floor. Then George was confronted by someone he didn't expect to be talking to today, Rodger Davies. "Well. Aren't you cute? How'd that angry loser get someone like you?" Rodgers hand was against the wall blocking George in. "He's not a looser, please leave me alone" George just wanted to get out of this situation. "No not yet. I don't even know your name yet" Rodger was persistent. George spied the garden and gave the first name he thought of. "Rose. My name's Rose. Don't you have a date already? You should be getting back to her right?" "Lovely name befitting a lovely lady. Fleur went off to talk to her friends plus I'm much more interested in you. We should go talk more in the garden, it's too warm in here" with that Rodger wrapped his arm around 'Rose' and led 'her' to the garden.

The garden was beautiful, lit with enchanted floating lanterns and adorned with the flower that had inspired 'Rose's' name.  
"So how did the twin convince you to be his date" Rodger enquired.  
"He just asked me. I didn't have any reason to refuse"  
"Well you should have. That guy's not someone you want to be around, serious anger issues. You should have gone with the other one"  
"The other one?" George squeaked. Rodger was too close and he just wanted to leave.  
"Yeah. I don't like the guy but at least he's better than Fred. He's weak, easy to push around and just really pathetic but he's not a bad person I guess. Nice to everyone. I blame his brother for the way he is. I mean at least with him you'd be sure he would treat you right. I would treat you better though" Rodger seemed to go off course when talking about George only snapping back at the very end.  
"Oh" was all George could muster up. Was that what Rodger thought of him? This was too much. Luckily he was saved from further response by Fred who angrily stormed round the corner. This wouldn't do anything good for Rodgers perception of him.  
"Stay away from them!" Fred pulled Rodger up by the neck of his shirt "They are mine"  
Rodger shot George a 'see' look and he knew he had to intervene.  
"Fred please let's just go" Fred reluctantly conceded letting Rodger go.  
"But I don't want to see you anywhere near hi- her again, got it" the two glared at each other and George wanted to sink into the ground. Fred tugged on George's arm. "We're leaving"

Just like that the night was over. George hastily took off the dress and glamour and collapsed into bed. That was exhausting.


	30. The Egg's Clue

January 4th 1995

Fred and George had still to figure out the clue that the golden egg was supposed to be giving them for the second task. They were sitting in the library and, although Fred claimed he knew exactly what it was, George wasn't sure. He was looking through books and reading up on how to figure it out.  
"Why are you reading up on how to figure it out?" said Fred.  
"Fred, we have to work out this clue," said George for the sixth time that hour.  
"How many times do I have to tell you?" said Fred. "I figured it out weeks ago."  
"Well, then, what is it?" asked George innocently.  
"It doesn't matter," said Fred. "I am the superior brother, and you should trust me."  
George raised his eyebrows but said nothing.  
"Hey, Fred! Hey, George!" came a voice as Neville appeared. "Have you figured out that clue yet? I can give you a hint if you'd like."  
George opened his mouth to take up the offer, but Fred was quicker.  
"No!" he half-yelled. "I figured it out weeks ago."  
Neville's face fell. "Well, I thought I would help you. I thought you would have done the same for me."  
Fred's brow furrowed. "I-"  
"We'd love your help, Neville," said George, ignoring the look that Fred shot him.  
A smile split Neville's face. "Take it underwater, and listen."  
"Thank you, Neville," said Fred. Neville practically skipped away happily, but as soon as he was gone, he rounded on George. "Why did you ask for help?"  
"Because you needed it," said George. "You hadn't figured anything out, Fred, and we both know it!"  
"We're contestants!" said Fred. "We are against each other."  
"You're welcome," said George bitterly, and he snatched up the egg and went to take a bath himself.  
He went to the bathroom and, after having run himself a bath, he went under the water and opened up the egg.  
"Come seek us where our voices sound,  
We cannot sing above the ground.  
And while you're searching, ponder this,  
We've taken what you'll sorely miss.  
An hour long you'll have to look,  
To recover what we took.  
But past an hour, the prospect's black,  
Too late, it's gone - it won't come back."  
Mermaids! It had to be mermaids! That must mean that their next task was going to be in... the Black Lake! They were going to have an hour to look for something stolen from underwater. They had to figure out how to breathe underwater!  
George had never dressed more quickly in his life as he sprinted back to the library to find Fred.  
"Fred! We have to find out how to breathe underwater!" he cried.  
"What?" said Fred.  
George hastily explained about the mermaids and the task, and then Fred clapped a hand to his mouth.  
"Do you remember that book we read about Herbology over the summer?" he said.  
"Magical Mediterranean Water-Plants?"  
"Yes, and do you remember the plant that they said would help breathe underwater?"  
George felt his eyebrows shoot up as he realised what Fred was talking about. "Gillyweed!" he breathed.  
Fred grinned mischievously. "So, all we have to do is get some from Snape's ingredient store."


	31. The Second Task

February, 9th 1995

The dawn broke cold and crisp on the morning of the second task. Fred and George awoke very early, too full of nerves to sleep. They were amongst the first in the Great Hall for breakfast even though they weren't hungry. Fred ate a single slice of toast and butter, but George was feeling too ill to eat anything at all. They had managed to get some Gillyweed from Snape's private stores.  
Neither of the Weasley children still at Hogwarts came to wish the twins good luck. For Ron, this was to be expected, but George had been half-hoping that Ginny would come and greet them. But there was no sign of her.  
Professor Flitwick soon approached the twins and brought them out to the Black Lake. There they met Neville with Professor Sprout, Fleur with Madam Maxime and Viktor with Karkaroff. Fred slipped George some of the Gillyweed, and before the task commenced, they both ate some of them.  
They suddenly couldn't breathe. George suppressed his sensations of panic as he realised, that the Gillyweed not only meant they could breathe underwater, but it meant that they could ONLY breathe underwater. He gasped as soon as he leapt into the water, gulping down the water like it was gold dust.  
He followed Fred through the Lake. Down and down they went until George was sure that they would never reach the bottom. But, at long, long last, they reached the sandy bed. Suddenly, Fred stilled. He and George listened carefully. There was the same music that came from the egg. Geoge beckoned to Fred (they couldn't speak to each other very clearly) and they both swam in the direction of the music. When they finally reached the merpeople's camp, they saw four people at the bottom of the Lake: Ginny, Hermione, Seamus and another girl whom they did not recognise, although she could only have been Fleur's sister.  
Fred gave George a look, and, despite their lack of ability to communicate, he understood that Fred wanted him to create a distraction. He pretended to be going for the younger girl, and the merpeople immediately tried to hold him off. Meanwhile, Fred set about untying Ginny. The ropes were very tight, and he ended up having to resort to using Diffindo, and by the time he had freed her, Viktor Krum had already arrived and, taking advantage of the distraction, had untied Hermione and was bringing her up to the surface. They were getting ready to leave, seeing that Neville was safely making his way towards Seamus, until they realised that there was no sign of Fleur coming to rescue her sister.  
They waited at least ten minutes, and, when Fleur never showed up, Fred created another distraction for the merpeople while George used Diffindo to cut the young girl free, her dazzlingly long and white hair obscuring his vision of the knots and ropes.  
However, it didn't take long for the merpeople to realise what he was up to. They chased Fred and George all the way to the boundaries of their territory, and then Fred and George, Gillyweed wearing off, made their way to the surface. Gasping down the air, they were hauled up onto the platform, to find a distressed-looking Fleur burst into tears as she realised that her little sister was safe.  
She flung her arms around George, who was trembling, "you saved Gabrielle! Thank you!" she kissed him on each cheek, before turning to Fred and planting one on each of his cheeks, too.  
"The places of the champions are as follows:" came Ludo Bagman's booming voice. "In fourth place: Fleur Delacour. In third place: Neville Longbottom. In second place - given more points due to their bravery and unwillingness to leave anyone behind - Fred and George Weasley. And, finally, in first place: Viktor Krum!"  
George gaped at Ludo Bagman in disbelief. He and Fred were the slowest to rescue their champion - other than Fleur - and they had come second? Had saving Gabrielle really been worth that many points to the judges?  
"George!" Fred shook him, and George looked up to see both him and Ginny beaming at him. "We are second! Second place, George!"  
And, despite the fact that he was still trembling, he couldn't stop the smile from splitting his face.


	32. A Death and a Resurrection

23 June 1995

The final task had come far too soon for George's liking. Moody, the defence professor had helped them prepare but he still felt nervous. They announced that the points would dictate what order they went in. Krum was first, then them, Neville and finally Fleur. George watched as Victor went in before the bell sounded and Fred grabbed his arm pulling him along the Maze. They flew through the maze until they reached a dead end turning they moved to go back only to be face to face with something called a fire crab. George remembered hearing about them from a very unhappy Neville. While George was trapped in his mind Fred blew the thing away with an explosion spell he'd learned and the two continued.

Eventually they made it they faced Neville and the cup.  
"You two go" Neville said.  
"Are you sure?" George's reply was filled with confusion  
"Yeah you deserve it" There was something deeply wrong but George didn't have time to think on it as Fred pulled him towards the cup.  
"Wait!" It was too late.

The twins opened their eyes to a graveyard. Then just like that darkness met them as they were hit over the head.

Everything was blurry as George awakened. He could hear someone talking but the voices seemed far off. Suddenly he felt his arm being cut. He worked to make sense of what was happening as someone stepped out of a cauldron. He could hear things more clearly now as he looked up at a terrifying face. One that looked eerily familiar.  
"Voldemort" he choked out.  
"Yes it's good to see you again. I think you'll find I'm in a much better position than the last time we met" he was far too close. George looked over and saw Fred in a similar situation, tied to what looked like a grave stone. A too cold hand gripped his face forcing him to look at the monster in front of him.  
"Tut tut. Don't you know it's rude to look away from some one who's talking to you"  
"What do you want" George's voice sounded horse and desperate even to himself  
"Hmm. What do I want? The wizarding world mostly and from what I hear you are the best way to get a good portion of it" The kids. George froze with panic. This monster was going to use them against the kids. A hand was still pressed against his face, a sick imitation of comfort. He felt sick.  
Suddenly a spell fired off cutting the ropes George dropped and turned, Fred! George grabbed onto his brother and ran they grabbed onto the trophy and landed in front of the maze. They looked up to chaos people were screaming spells were being fired, they stayed low and made their way over to a body lying in the dirt.  
"Cedric" Fred gasped.  
No. No this couldn't be happening. George hardly noticed when the spell fire ceased or when he was brought to the infirmary. Everything that had happened was too much. He wasn't there when it was explained that Moody had been a death eater in disguise or when they found out Neville had broken out of an imperius curse and exposed him causing the battle. He was still gone when Fred tried to explain what had happened. He didn't know what to do. He lay in the hospital bed and shook as he wondered what he should do. The world was blurry and not quite there as he closed his eyes. His head pounded and he had had enough concussions to know he shouldn't be going to sleep but right now he didn't care.


	33. Progressing a Revolution

Summer 1995

Fred was feeling as good as possible under the circumstances. Of course he didn't expect this to last as the train pulled into the station. He grabbed George's hand and they walked off the train.

Home was about as bad as Fred expected. Death Eaters were constantly in and out and punishments increased so the Malfoys could relieve some stress. Fred wasn't entirely sure what happened in the graveyard. He'd been unconscious quite a bit longer than George but he knew Voldemort is back and the Ministry hadn't believed him when he told them. This made training everyone all the more important. They had to learn how to defend themselves.

Things had been going pretty smoothly though both brothers were exhausted from the teaching and training. Then one day during chores they got confronted by Rodger, which was surprising to say the least. Rodger never bothered them out of school.  
"Hey where is she?" Rodger questioned  
"What?" now Fred was even more confused.  
"Yknow the girl you took to the dance. I thought she was one of those foreign students but I checked and no-one knew her so she has to be one of ours. So where is she? We need to talk" Rodgers words made George tense behind him but Fred was already plotting how he could use this.  
"I told you to stay away from her" His angry voice was put on trying to replicate what he'd felt when he'd seen Rodger touch George at the ball.  
"Why would I listen to you? Look I need to talk with her. Why do you care what I do with her anyway?"  
"Because he- she's not yours. You need to leave" Fred tried to calm the anger that once again spiked in his chest. He could use this. He could use this."Oh and don't try asking the others. No-one who knows will tell you"  
With that he turned and left, George following close behind.  
"Why did you do that? He's not going to give up now" George whispered pulling at the sleeve of his shirt absent mindedly.  
"Because dearest brother, we can use his stupid crush against him. Can't we?"  
"I'm not dressing up like that again Fred. I hated it enough the last time"  
"Oh I'm sorry. You know best now don't you? I think you've forgotten who's the superior brother here" Fred knew exactly how to get to his brother. He glanced at him head bowed, the grip on his shirt tightening and knew that he'd won.  
He always did.  
"Sorry. You're right" Fred smiled and put his arm around George's shoulder. He had such a great brother. Now they had more work to do.


	34. Ugly Umbridge

September 1st 1995

Fred and George were waiting eagerly for the huge tables to fill up with food. The Defense Against the Dark Arts seat was empty, as always.  
"I wonder who Dumbledore has gotten this time?" said Fred.  
George shrugged. "Hopefully their not a Death Eater or possessed by Voldemort."  
Fred laughed. "Hopefully."  
"Hem hem," came a ridiculous, high-pitched voice from the back of the Great Hall. Every head turned around in surprise.  
"Ah, Dolores," said Dumbledore pleasantly.  
"It's Professor Umbridge to you," said the woman, who was dressed completely in baby pink and looked incredibly like a toad.  
Dumbledore merely beamed at her.  
Professor Umbridge strutted to the top of the Great Hall and turned to address the children.  
"Boys and girls," said Professor Umbridge, smiling a little too sweetly. "It is with utmost pleasure that I take up the role of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher and Hogwarts High Inquisitor-"  
Fred turned to George and said loudly, "And WHAT?"  
He turned scarlet as he realised just how loudly he had said.  
"Silence, boys!" said Umbridge. "If you had listened, you would know! I will see you both this evening for detention."  
George thought this was ridiculously unfair, but said nothing.  
After the feast, Fred and George made their way to the office that had always been occupied by the Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers and found it already painted a sickening shade of pink and decorated with pictures of cats. Fred knocked.  
"Ah, yes," said Umbridge. "Tut, tut, detention already. You've not even been to a single class yet."  
She giggled, and Fred glared at her.  
"Now, you are to write 'I must not misbehave'."  
"How many times?" said George immediately.  
"We don't have our quills with us, Professor," said Fred.  
"You will be using some of mine," said Umbridge, giving them each a quill. "And you are to right it until the message... sinks in."  
Both boys sat down, backs to each other ("we can't have you talking," said Umbridge) with a quill and ink.  
"You haven't given us any ink, Professor," said Fred.  
"Oh, you won't need any ink," said Umbridge, sweetly enough for George to get suspicious.  
George frowned and was getting ready to begin writing when Fred emitted a gasp of pain. Pain? How could lines possibly be painful? He was startled at the colour of ink that came from the quill - a deep blood-red. And then, he let out his own gasp of pain. To his horror, he looked down at the back of his right hand and saw the words 'I must not misbehave' in his exact handwriting appearing, carved into his flesh. And then he realised: the ink he was using was not just blood-red, it was his own blood.  
He took a deep breath, braced himself and began to write the second line, hoping that he could look up a spell or potion later that might be able to soothe the pain.


	35. A Trip to the Hospital Wing

September, 4th 1995

"We have to tell Flitwick about our detention," said Fred. "That wasn't detention - that was torture."  
"But if we tell Flitwick, Umbridge will give us another detention, and probably make it worse," said George sceptical.  
"I am the superior brother," said Fred. "And I say we tell Flitwick."  
"If we get another detention, I blame you," George muttered, but he reluctantly agreed to hang back after their next Charms class.

"Professor Flitwick, sir," said Fred politely.  
"Do you have a question about the Expulso charm?" asked Professor Flitwick.  
"Well, no..." said Fred slowly. "But this is important. You see, Professor Umbridge made us write lines for our detention, but we had to use a special quill which etched the words into the back of our hands and used our blood as ink." He stretched out his hand for evidence.  
Professor Flitwick looked horrified. "You two should make your way to the Hospital Wing immediately. I will take you."  
When Flitwick presented the boys to Madam Pomfrey, she looked as though she might be about to faint, but then she said, "I know just what will soothe your hands - Essence of Murtlap."  
As soon as Madam Pomfrey came out with the solution, Fred and George eagerly plunged their hands into the bowls and immediately were met with a blissfully soothing experience, which washed over them and made their entire bodies relax from the freedom from the pain.  
Umbridge walked into the Hospital Wing carrying a clipboard and began going round all the students, asking them what they were in for, and how effective the treatment they were getting was, making notes as she asked piles of questions.  
"Ah, Professor Umbridge," squeaked Flitwick, hurrying over to her. "I was just about to come and look for you and ask you if you really think it is appropriate to use a torture device on two boys who did nothing more serious than talk over you."  
Umbridge gave him a sickeningly sweet smile. "I only thought the boys had to learn not to talk over other people. Especially not their teachers, whom they should treat with respect."  
Flitwick gaped at her. "But... but - it's torture!"  
Umbridge's fake smile didn't even falter. "I think that you do not have any say in how I do my detentions. Because as Hogwarts High Inquisitor, I have more say in it than you do."  
Flitwick looked abashed. "Hogwarts... what?"  
"Hogwarts High Inquisitor, Professor," said Umbridge, and Fred and George exchanged uneasy glances. "According to Educational Decree Number 23, Dolores Jane Umbridge - that's me - has been appointed to the post of Hogwarts High Inquisitor."  
Flitwick was apparently rendered speechless. George felt the frustration rising in his throat as he realised that Umbridge could make them write as many lines as she wanted with that awful quill. And nobody would be able to do anything about it.


	36. Expulsion and a New Quest

September 5th 1995

Umbridge had had it out for the twins since the incident in the hospital wing. The boys were currently trying to hide from her in an attempt to avoid another painful detention. They came to the room of requirement.  
"Somewhere to hide, somewhere to hide" Fred mumbled.  
The door appeared and the two ducked inside. The room was huge and crammed with stuff. They wandered around before coming across a crown.  
"What is that?" George said, he could easily recognise the dark magic radiating off of it.  
"I don't know. But I kinda want to put it on" Fred could barely tear his eyes away from it.  
"Compilation magic. Okay I'm going to grab it and stuff it in my bag. Don't let me put it on. We can destroy it once we're somewhere safer" George didn't know if it would work but having a dangerous magical artefact in a place they accessed regularly wasn't safe in the slightest.  
He reached out grabbing the crown and stuffing it in his bag.

The two left the room and went to Professor Flitwick who was currently being bombarded by questions from an ever curious Draco.  
"Excuse us professor" George said as he stepped in  
"Oh yes boys" Flitwick looked up relieved at the break from Draco.  
"We were exploring the school and found what we think is a cursed artefact and we kind of need your help in dealing with it" Fred was reluctant to ask for help but they had no way of dealing with this themselves.  
"What?" Flitwick's alarm grew as George produced Rowena Ravenclaw crown. He felt the dark magic an immediately recognised what they were dealing with. "A horcrux" he whispered.  
"A what" Fred asked  
"I don't think I am of much help here boys this crown has a soul piece inside it. There isn't much we can do to destroy it" Flitwick said.  
"A soul piece. Wait I think I've seen one of these things before! Ginny got possessed by Voldemort in a diary remember. That was why the whole Chamber thing happened. We used the sword of Gryffindor to destroy it" George eyes lit up with realisation.  
"What?" Fred however hadn't been fully briefed about that incident.  
"Wait I know where the sword is I'll go get it" Draco said surprising every one who had forgotten he was there before running off.  
"This is the strangest thing that has ever happened to me in my entire teaching career" Flitwick said shocked by the conversation that had just transpired Infront of him. " Wait Voldemort created a horcrux?"  
"Oh yeah. This might also be his horcrux actually. I mean who else would split their soul like that" George replied  
"How many does he have?" Fred wondered " I mean. I doubt he'd only make one and if he's going to make more than one he doesn't seem like the type to go small"  
"Seven" everyone turned in shock. Dumbledore stood in the doorway eyes slightly glassy. "He had made seven"  
"That's the magic number" Draco said heaving a giant sword into the room.  
" Um. Thanks Draco" George said lifting up the sword and plunging into the crown. It screamed one of the most horrific sounds George had ever heard.

Before anyone could fully understand what had just happened they heard footsteps echoing down the hallway. George panicked throwing the sword under the desk. Umbridge turned the corner storming into the class.  
"What on earth is going on!" She screeched  
"It was our fault professor. A spell went sideways and it made a weird noise" Fred said almost automatically.  
"Well this coupled with the fact you skipped out on detention and your previous crimes leads me to only one conclusion. Your both EXPELLED!" She cried satisfaction dripping from her voice.

Well they needed to deal with the apparent 5 horcruxes that existed somewhere anyway. So there was no point complaining. They were told they had the rest of the day to pack their stuff and leave. Once she left Fred turned to Flitwick  
"Could you please make sure the Malfoys don't find out about this. We need time"  
"Of course I'll do my best boys" Flitwick said sad to lose his best pupils.  
"Oh and you can keep the sword too. If your gonna be fighting off bad guys you're going to need it"  
"Thank you Draco we'll use it well" George replied thankfully.  
With that the two went to explain the situation and prepare the others for their departure.


	37. The Ring

September 23rd 1995

It had been almost three weeks since Fred and George had been expelled. They hadn't dared return to the Malfoy Manor but had instead been staying at the Leaky Cauldron, thanks to Flitwick organising a room for them with the owner Tom. They knew they had to hunt down the Horcruxes but had no idea where to start. What were they Horcruxes? Where were they located? They'd been researching into Voldemort's past, reading every book they could find and questioning as many people as they could.  
They were just sitting eating their breakfast when suddenly George gasped.  
"What is it?" said Fred.  
"I think I know what - and where - one of the Horcruxes is," said George. "Remember the story about Riddle hunting down his uncle, killing him and stealing his ring?"  
"Yeah..."  
"And remember how we also spoke to someone else," George was talking very fast. "Who said that they had visited the Gaunt Shack and seen the ring sitting on the table, long after Riddle supposedly took it."  
Now it was Fred's turn to gasp. "So you're saying..."  
"That the ring is one of the Horcruxes, and it's hidden at the Gaunt Shack!" cried George, jumping up and rushing back up to their rooms, leaving his half-eaten breakfast behind. Fred had to sprint to catch up and fall into step beside him.  
"Don't you see?" George continued. "It makes sense! Riddle created the ring as a Horcrux and hid it in plain sight! Nobody would ever suspect it. Or so he thought..."  
"Well, then we have to pay a visit to the Gaunt Shack," said Fred. "Today."

As neither of the twins had learned to Apparate, they had to use the Floo Network, which they only were able to use because they told Tom that they had to do something very important, and even then he only agreed to let them when they hinted that it would help stop Voldemort. Of course, they didn't mention any details, and, thankful that Tom didn't ask, they soon found themselves in the Gaunt Shack. It looked as though nobody had been there for years. The curtains were torn, fallen down and moth-eaten. The table was rocking on the three legs that it had left and there were several spiders and beetles on the dust and dirt-caked floor. And on the table, sat the ring.  
"Well, do it," said George to Fred and handing him the ring, as he had the sword.  
Tentatively, Fred took the ring and stabbed it with the sword. There was an outburst of black smoke, which soon disappeared and the ring sat looking broken where the sword had impaled it, but otherwise exactly the same.  
"That's it?" Fred sounded apprehensive.  
George shrugged. "I guess so."  
"Well," said Fred. "One Horcrux down, up to four more to go."  
And, feeling it was a little anticlimactic, the twins used the rest of the Floo Powder Tom had given them to get back to the Leaky Cauldron and set out on their journey to find the rest of the Horcruxes.


	38. The Locket

Fred and George arrived at Grimmauld Place. An old ancestral home of the Blacks. James had given them the key so they had a place to stay for a while. Neither of them had any clue where the other horcruxes were so they decided to lay low until something new came up. Fred stepped in and was immediately met with screeching.  
"INTRUDERS! INTRUDERS! GET OUT!!" It was a portrait of a lady. Wow Fred had known her for all of 3 seconds and he already hated her.  
"Hey! We're not intruders. We were invited by Sirius Black" Fred tried to reason. The portrait didn't take well to this.  
"hmm? Well he's not here. So get out. He shouldn't have invited Mud-blood scum like you anyway" She spat back.  
"We're pure-bloods ma'am. Um- Sorry to be a bother but we knew Sirius wasn't here. He said we could stay here for a bit because we live quite far away and we need to stay here for a while. For business." George cut in as he stepped in the house bringing their meagre belongings with him. He was as polite as ever, with soft smiles and soothing voice. Portraits tone changed completely after hearing George, much to Fred's chagrin.  
"Oh! So polite. Good to see one of you was raised to be respectable. Of course you can stay. Your brother too. Here I'll call Kreature to get your bags. KREATURE!"  
At her call a gnarled looking house elf came to take the bags George was holding.  
"Thank you" He whispered causing Kreature to throw him a strange look before popping away.  
"Well lets get settled in then" Fred said dragging George into the living room. They stared at the many books that adorned the walls. The two immediately found a book each before settling down to read.

Fred was at his wits end with this place. The portraits were as annoying as ever, they had taken an immediate dislike to him and made comments about him as he wandered around the house. Kreature was just as bad refusing to help him with anything. Of course he snarked back at them. He was used to hatred that wasn't really the problem. The problem was George. Everyone loved him and Fred couldn't stand it. Comments were kept quiet around George, Kreature did everything he asked and everyone seemed to coo over him. Good George, Polite George, Helpful George. He didn't understand why it irked him so much to hear the compliments. It almost felt like every compliment towards George was an insult towards him. He knew he was crass, his anger got the better of him more times than not and he could be as stubborn as mule sometimes. George didn't have those qualities he was quiet, respectful, loved by everyone, a huge pushover, a crybaby, a pathetic martyr. Wait what was he thinking? They had been here too long it was getting to him. They hadn't made any progress at all and -  
"Fred?" He was pulled out of his thoughts by his brother soft voice. So much more gentle than his harsh tone. Even though they had the same voice.  
"Yeah" He replied shortly.  
"Could I borrow the Sword? Kreature has some sort of cursed locket and I'm going to destroy it" Wait what? A cursed locket.  
"What do mean a cursed locket?"  
"I'm not entirely sure it seems to have something to do with Slytherin though"  
"Well let's see it then" Fred grabbed the sword. He wasn't going to be left out of this. Maybe destroying this locket would curry him some favour with the gremlin.

So the two went into the library, George briefly explaining to Kreature that Fred was going to be the one to destroy the locket. Fred went over to the locket and he could practically feel the dark magic radiating off of it. He hesitated for a moment as he heard it whisper before steeling his resolve and plunging the sword into the locket. It screamed a too familiar scream and the twins froze. That was a horcrux. George had found a horcrux in the house. There had been a horcrux in the house. They both stood in shock while Kreature thanked them profusely. George gave him the remains of the locket as a reminder of his master and they went down stairs. Fred sat down on the couch ignoring the whispers. Well there were still more to find. Fred guessed it was a good job George had gotten close to Kreature. It had rather accidentally got them farther in their quest. Now they just needed to find the others.


	39. Gold and Gringotts

December 25th 1995

George rolled over in his small, creaky bed at the Leaky Cauldron. Where was he? Why wasn't he at Grimmauld Place? Oh yes, Fred had, for some reason, insisted that they come here to see if they could find out any more information about the Horcruxes. They had been doing all sorts of crazy things, trying to keep a record of who everyone was, listening in on conversations that often had nothing to do with Horcruxes or even Voldemort. Then he remembered something else and his eyes flew open. It was Christmas! He threw back the covers and rushed over to Fred. He doubted they'd have any presents, but the owner, Tom, had been talking about his roast turkey and ice cream and Christmas pudding he was going to make all day the day before.  
"Wake up, Fred, it's Christmas!"  
"Wha-" Fred rolled over groggily. "Oh."  
"Let's go and get breakfast! Ooh, I can't wait for lunch!"  
"Hey, George, listen," said Fred. "We have to go to Gringotts."  
"What? Why?"  
"I didn't want to tell you last night in case anyone overheard, but," he dropped his voice to a whisper, so quiet that even George had to strain to hear, and any potential eavesdroppers had no hope, although George couldn't imagine why anyone would be listening in on them - especially on Christmas. "I overheard Bellatrix Lestrange talking to another Death Eater I didn't recognise last night - she's here under a disguise. At first I thought she was looking for us, but then I realised that she's here because of the owner - you know, he's very close with Dumbledore. Anyway, I was hiding. She said that the Hufflepuff cup is a Horcrux - and it's in her vault!"  
George's eyes were wide. "That's great, but, Fred, it's Christmas! Can't it wait until tomorrow?"  
"No," said Fred. "I am the superior brother, and I say we go today."  
"But-"  
"George, every day we waste gives You-Know-Who another day to come back!" Fred was growing angry. "And he's not going to stop just because it's Christmas, so neither should we!"  
"Fine," George huffed, hoping there would at least be some Christmas pudding left for them when they got back. "And how, exactly, do you propose we break into a Gringotts vault? Bellatrix Lestrange's, no less!"  
"Griphook isn't still staying here, is he?"  
"Yes, why?" said George a split second before he realised. "Oh."

To George's delight, they decided that the best way to convince Griphook to come with them was over Christmas breakfast. George sat back and enjoyed the fruit, porridge and toast while Fred worked his persuasive magic on Griphook, and by the end of breakfast they had a plan. All Griphook wanted in return was the sword of Gryffindor. George was surprised Fred agreed to this, but he suspected that Fred was going to double-cross him - they needed the sword to destroy the Horcruxes, after all.  
When they arrived at Gringotts, the festive decorations were wonderful. George tried not to get distracted by the elaborate trees and tinsel all up and down the hall. He and Fred were silently under the Invisibility cloak, while Griphook invented and elaborate story about how Bellatrix Lestrange had given him a special errand to run in her vault. The goblin questioned him for about ten minutes, but eventually he passed and Fred and George slipped through the doors and onto the cart behind him. George saw that Fred had his wand at the ready, and decided that he should probably do the same.  
When they reached the Lestrange vault, the goblin unlocked the door and Fred whispered. "Full Body-Bind Curse. On three. One, two three!"  
"PETRIFICUS TOTALUS!" they both shouted, creating such a powerful spell that the goblin froze more rigid than usual, and collapsed to the ground.  
"Oops," said Fred. "Maybe just I should have done it."  
"Never mind that!" hissed Griphook. "Hurry up!"  
They rushed into the vault and Fred said. "Accio cup!"  
Nothing happened, but Fred hadn't expected it to, anyway.  
George touched one of the coins and immediately it split into two. "Don't touch anything, except for the cup!"  
"There!" Fred pointed. "I don't know how we're supposed to get to it without touching anything, though. I'll just have to go and get it. George, I'll throw it to you, and it's up to you to get the cup out of the vault and come back to help me."  
"No pressure," George muttered under his breath, but he agreed all the same.  
Fred climbed up to the cup, and immediately gold started appearing everywhere. George watched nervously as Fred snatched the cup and threw it to him. He caught it and kept it safe in one hand while reaching for Fred with the other. Fred was already knee-deep in treasures, and, though he managed to grab his brother's hand, was no closer to getting out of the pile.  
George pulled with all his weight, and eventually, they managed to get out of the gold.  
"Wait a minute," said Fred. "Where's Griphook?"  
"Idiot," said George. "He's not going to get the sword."  
"That's fine with me," said Fred, but, in that moment, they realised exactly why Griphook had left. There was an alarm blaring, and footsteps hurrying towards them. The twins stared at each other in horror, but then they heard a mighty roar and rushed around to see what it was. It was a dragon.  
"We have to escape on the dragon!" yelled Fred over the noise.  
"That's crazy!"  
"Have you got a better idea?"  
George didn't have a better idea, so they scrambled up onto the dragon's back.  
"Diffindo!" shouted George, and the ropes cut, and the dragon was free. It crashed up through the ceiling and into the sky. It flew over the city of London, destroying everything in its wake, all the time Fred and George were clinging on for dear life.  
They couldn't go back to the Leaky Cauldron. They had undoubtedly just made themselves wanted criminals, and they were in danger of being seen by Muggles. But they had the cup. They were one step closer to destroying Voldemort. And as soon as they found a safe place to land, the first thing they would do would be to destroy the cup with the sword of Gryffindor and think about their next move. It was just a pity they weren't going to get roast turkey and Christmas pudding, George thought sadly.


	40. Muggle Problems

George had been sitting on a double bed in a muggle hotel. They had been laying low after the dragon incident, and for some reason Fred refused to go back to Grimmauld. George knew Fred was hiding something from him but he had no clue what. He could tell from the way Fred looked at him when he thought he wasn't looking. It worried him but there was nothing to do about it now. So he went along with the plan to go muggle for a bit, he didn't want go rock the boat by fighting Fred on this and even if he did he knew he would lose. He wasn't very good at standing up for what he wanted especially when it came to Fred. There was always this fear in the back of his mind that Fred was going to leave, that was stupid and irrational though. His brother wouldn't do that. He wouldn't. Would he? Beside him Fred moved, turning over before nodding off again, Fred was a much heavier sleeper than he was. George smilded slightly as he looked at Fred. No. He wouldn't.

To distract himself he picked up the muggle newspaper that had been sitting on the bedside table, flicking through the pages until he saw himself on a page, no not him he realised, Fred.Shocked he turned and shook Fred awake.  
"Mff! What? George? Go away I'm sleeping" Fred protested, pushing George slightly before rolling over.  
"Sorry Fred but you need to look at this"  
"What?"  
George showed Fred the paper, the headline ' Mysterious Redhead seen carrying sword about London' in large print at the top of the page. Fred looked at it and groaned.  
"So much for laying low. I can't believe we didn't hide the sword. Why didn't you tell me!" Freds tone turned confrontational as he turned to face George.  
"Sorry I didn't think" Georges tone was placating as he apologised. He didn't feel like this was his fault but he didn't want to start a fight right now, it was too risky, people could hear.  
"Well don't do it again" Fred gave him a strange look before turning away. George didn't know what was wrong but he needed to find out soon. He didn't want Fred to give him that look again.


	41. Blending In

Fred walked along the streets of London George following behind. They needed to blend in, act like all the other muggles. Fred hated it immediately. Having never seen muggle society before he struggled with knowing how to act. There were so many new and strange things, it baffled him that they didn't need magic at all. But that wasn't his biggest issue, the main issue was how well George was adapting to this. He figured out which money was which, he was good at pretending he knew what things were, people seemed to take pity on the nervous child who was visiting London for the first time. Fred knew he was being ridiculous, this was helping them but that didn't stop him from pulling a bit harder than necessary on Georges arm as they weaved through the streets .  
Then as they were standing at a bus stop it happened. They had kept their war hammer and sword wrapped in the invisibility cloak to avoid detection but as they moved around the hammer had slipped and fell right onto Fred's foot.  
"Ow!'  
Just like that everyone's attention had turned to them.  
"I told you to be careful with that! The theatre will kill us if it gets damaged, it's an important prop" George said hoisting it up off the ground. Fred gave him a confused look before be realised what just happened. Luckily people seemed to accept the lie and went about their day but Fred was mortified. The twins stayed quiet until they reached the hotel they were staying at.  
"What were you thinking embarrassing me in front of all those people!" Fred grabbed on to George as soon as they got through the door, his embarrassment quickly turning to anger.  
"What was I thinking? I was trying to save us from having to explain why we had a giant hammer on us and would you look at that it worked!" George snapped back pulling away from Fred's grasp.  
"Shut up! I'm the superi-"  
"Maybe you're not"Georges voice went quiet but the look he gave Fred told him his brother wasn't calm.  
"What?" Fred desperately tried to gain a grasp back on the situation.  
"I said maybe you're not better than me. Maybe you aren't right about this, about a lot of things"  
"I never said I was right about everything!"  
" But when things go wrong it's never your fault" George's voice was choked with barely restrained emotions, Fred saw his hands shaking.  
"George-"  
"Stop! I am not going to sit back and let you do this anymore. Let you manipulate me into thinking this is my fault. I'm done."

With that George turned around and walked back through the door. Fred didn't know where he was going, he didn't think George did either. After the door shut Fred moved to sit on the bed. This wasn't happening. That wasn't George, George was a pushover who did what he was told and didn't yell or glare at him like that. Wasn't he? Fred thought about what George had said, maybe he wasn't always right. Maybe what he was doing was wrong. He didn't want to hurt George. He didn't. But he did, he liked the sense of power it gave him. He was horrible wasn't he? Fred sat alone in the hotel room. He was asleep when George returned, conflicted over whether he should feel sorry about what happened or not. They would figure it out in the morning.


End file.
